Trump aide Navarro calls India’s Russian oil purchases ‘laundromat for the Kremlin’
The White House trade adviser says New Delhi ‘doesn’t appear to want to recognise its role in the bloodshed’
“I see that taking place,” Navarro told reporters in front of the White House when asked about the tariffs on India that are set to double on August 27. “India doesn’t appear to want to recognise its role in the bloodshed. It simply doesn’t. It’s cozying up to Xi Jinping, is what it’s doing.”
India has ramped up oil imports from Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, when Group of Seven nations imposed a US$60-per-barrel price cap on Moscow’s crude that aimed to limit the Kremlin’s energy revenue. The Trump administration sees those purchases as helping fund Russia’s war, with 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods set to be among the highest on any country’s products.
“They don’t need the oil. It’s a refining profit sharing scheme. It’s a laundromat for the Kremlin. That’s the reality of that,” Navarro said. “Look, Modi is a great leader. But please, please India, like, look at what is, what your role here is in the global economy and good here. It’s like, what you’re doing right now is not creating peace, it’s perpetuating the war.”
Oil advanced in a choppy session after the comments.