The President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Monday (2), in a publication on the Truth Social network, that India will stop buying oil from Russia and will increase imports of the commodity from the United States and Venezuela, after a telephone conversation with the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
In the post, the American president stated that Modi “agreed to stop buying Russian oil and buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela”. According to Trump, the change “will help end the war in Ukraine.”
Trump also announced in the publication the entry into force of a new trade agreement with India. According to the White House leader, Washington will reduce the so-called reciprocal tariffs applied to Indian products from 25% to 18%, a decision taken “out of friendship and respect” for Modi and “at his request”.
According to Trump, the Indian government will work to “reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers imposed on American products to zero.” The president also said Modi has committed to increasing imports of goods from the United States and investing more than $500 billion in energy, technology, agricultural products, coal and other sectors.
Trump praised the Indian Prime Minister, whom he called one of his “best friends” and a “powerful and respected leader”, saying that the relationship between the two countries will be “even stronger with the new agreement”.
This weekend, Trump had already declared that India would start buying oil from Venezuela, whose oil sector was liberalized after the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro by US forces on January 3. At the time, Trump stated that the measure would help New Delhi stop purchasing oil from Iran.
India is one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil, a factor that led Washington to impose secondary tariffs of 25%. Last week, Modi spoke by phone with Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, and both agreed to “deepen energy cooperation.”
This afternoon, Modi confirmed and celebrated the reduction of American tariffs to 18% in a post on the social network X, but avoided corroborating the central part of Trump’s announcement about an immediate commitment to stop purchases of Russian oil.
