Published: August 25, 2025 11:09 AM IST 
US Vice President J D Vance on Sunday said President Donald Trump has used “aggressive economic leverage,” including the imposition of “secondary tariffs on India,” to pressure Russia into halting its strikes on Ukraine.
In an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press, Vance added that such measures would “make it harder” for Moscow to profit from its oil-driven economy.
The Trump administration has repeatedly criticised India for purchasing discounted crude oil from Russia, while notably refraining from targeting China, the largest buyer of Russian crude.
Vance remained confident the US can broker an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine despite potential hang-ups that have emerged since President Trump’s meeting this month with Russian President Vladimir Putin, NBC News said.
“We believe we’ve already seen some significant concessions from both sides, just in the last few weeks,” Vance said in the interview aired on Sunday morning.
If the US is not “imposing new sanctions,” what is the pressure on Russia? “How do you get them to a place of getting to the table with Zelenskyy and stopping to drop bombs?” moderator Kristen Welker asked.
Trump has applied “aggressive economic leverage,” for example “secondary tariffs on India, to try to make it harder for the Russians to get rich from their oil economy,” Vance replied.
“He tried to make it clear that Russia can be reinvited into the world economy if they stop the killing. But they are going to continue to be isolated if they don’t stop the killing,” he said.
Ever since Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duties for India’s purchase of Russian crude oil, relations between New Delhi and Washington are on a downturn.
The US has alleged that India’s purchases of Russian crude oil are funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine, a charge strongly rejected by India.
New Delhi turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
On Saturday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at an event in New Delhi, “It’s funny to have people who work for a pro-business American administration accusing other people of doing business.” He was responding to a question on the US criticism of India on the crude oil issue.
“That’s really curious. If you have a problem buying oil or refined products from India, don’t buy it. Nobody forces you to buy it. But Europe buys, America buys, so you don’t like it, don’t buy it,” Jaishankar said.
(With Inputs From PTI)
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