Russia has criticized what it refers to as illegal economic coercion by the United States against India for its continued buying of oil from Moscow. The accusation comes after a threat from former US President Donald Trump, who warned of higher tariffs on countries, including India, that buy Russian oil.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov condemned Washington's position, saying that such methods are tantamount to intimidation. "We hear quite a lot of remarks that are actually threats, efforts to compel nations to abandon trade relations with Russia. We do not consider them to be legal," Peskov said to reporters.
Peskov stressed that every nation has the sovereign right to choose with whom it trades. "We believe sovereign nations should have and do have the right to make their own choice of their trade partners, economic cooperation partners, and to make their own choice of the types of trade and economic cooperation in a country's interest," he said.
Trump, on Friday, announced plans to impose stricter sanctions on Russia as well as countries that still buy Russian energy commodities. His threat involved a call for Russia to desist from its current military assault on Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, remains unmoved in his stance, with no sign of withdrawing with the countdown to the deadline looming.
India, for its part, has reacted forcefully to Trump's threat. Describing the action as "unjustified," New Delhi reiterated its commitment to protecting its national economic interests.
"As a major economy, India will take all appropriate steps to protect its national interest and economic security," India said.
India also reminded the U.S. of its own past support for Indian oil imports from Russia after the eruption of the Ukraine conflict. India's government also pushed back against European Union criticism for double standards, charging that the EU was singling out Indian refiners while still maintaining its own commercial relations with Russia.
India's ongoing energy imports from Russia are being motivated by pragmatic needs, said the Ministry of External Affairs. It said that "India's imports are a necessity compelled by the global market situation," and added that most of the same nations that are criticizing India are themselves "indulging in trade with Russia" without any critical need to do so.
Government sources in India assured Reuters at the weekend that India will continue its Russian oil imports despite Trump's threats.
