Donald Trump imposed tariffs on India to end Russia-Ukraine war: White House

US President Donald Trump has levied heavy tariffs on India as part of measures to put pressure on Russia to end the Ukraine conflict, according to the White House. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that Trump has put “tremendous public pressure to bring this war to a close” and wants to see the war end.

Her statement comes days after Trump increased tariffs on India to 50% after he proposed an extra 25% levy on the previously announced 25%.

Addressing a press briefing, she said, “Look, the president has put tremendous public pressure to bring this war to a close. He’s taken actions, as you’ve seen, sanctions on India and other actions as well.”

“He’s made himself very clear that he wants to see this war end, and he has scoffed at the ideas of others that have been raised that we should wait another month before any meeting takes place,” Leavitt was quoted as saying by ANI.

Leavitt emphasised Trump’s dedication to bringing the war to an end as quickly as possible. “The president wants to move and he wants to bring this war to an end as quickly as possible… With all of those European leaders leaving the White House, including the NATO Secretary General, they all agree that this is a great first step. And it’s a good thing that these two leaders are going to be sitting down together, and the president expects that to happen,” she added.

Earlier, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and signalled openness to a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US President declared that he had a very successful day, while Zelensky stated that this was the ‘best conversation’ he had with Trump thus far.

She added that the United States government and the Trump administration were actively working with both Russia and Ukraine to facilitate a bilateral meeting between the two nations.

According to Leavitt, Trump’s consistent efforts at brokering peace directly led to European leaders gathering at the White House within 48 hours of his meeting with Putin.

“So, these leaders who have this war in their backyard are very grateful that the president took that call and that he was there to provide them with a readout of Russia’s thinking on this, something that was not done by the previous administration at all,” she added.

Earlier this month, India called the United States’ move to impose additional tariffs on India ‘unfair, unjustified and unreasonable’ and will take necessary measures to safeguard national interests.

“The United States has in recent days targeted India’s oil imports from Russia. We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in an official statement.