US pushes EU to cut Russian energy, sanction India and China – Axios
Photo: Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump (Getty Images)
The US does not want to bear the costs of pressuring Russia alone. Europe must make a more significant contribution, Axios and India Today report.
According to Axios, the sanctions that the US is calling on Europe to impose on Russia include a complete ban on all oil and gas purchases, as well as the introduction of secondary tariffs by the EU against India and China, similar to those already applied by the US against India.
A senior White House official told Axios that Europeans cannot drag out this war and make excessive demands through back channels while expecting America to bear the costs. If Europe wants to escalate this war, that will be its choice. But then it will hopelessly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, he added.
According to India Today sources, the White House has asked European countries to adopt sanctions similar to those already imposed by the US against India, including a complete halt to all oil and gas supplies from New Delhi.
The Trump administration also wants Europe to impose secondary tariffs on India, as the US has already warned, if New Delhi does not stop buying oil from Moscow.
Sanctions against Russia and its allies
The biggest sponsors of Russia's war against Ukraine are India and China, which have sharply increased their purchases of Russian raw materials since 2022.
On August 27, US President Donald Trump signed a decision to impose 50% tariffs on imports of Indian goods. The move is aimed at punishing New Delhi for continuing to purchase Russian oil.
Since 2022, India has been able to save at least $17 billion by increasing imports of cheap Russian oil. However, Trump's new tariffs could reduce Indian exports by 40% in the short term and lead to a loss of $37 billion, which is twice the benefit of profiting from the war.
EU countries continue to buy gas from Russia, as well as petroleum products from India made from Russian oil. In addition, countries such as Hungary and Slovakia import cheap Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline.
