President insists no major sanctions until every NATO member stops buying Russian oil, intensifies pressure on China and India.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he is prepared to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia but only on one condition: all NATO allies must first agree to and begin a full halt of oil purchases from Russia.
"I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Earlier in the day, Reuters reported that Scott Bessent of the U.S. Treasury urged G7 and European Union partners to introduce "meaningful tariffs" against goods from China and India, aimed at pressuring them to end their purchases of Russian oil.
Already, Trump has imposed a 25% tariff on imports from India in response to its continued purchases of discounted Russian crude, bringing the total punitive duties on Indian goods to 50%, which has strained trade conversations between Washington and New Delhi.
On the other hand, Trump has refrained from applying additional tariffs against China over the same issue likely due to ongoing trade negotiations and a delicate diplomatic balance between the two countries.