India “agreed to stop buying Russian oil and acquire much more from the United States and, eventually, Venezuela,” Trump said on his Truth Social network after a telephone conversation with Modi.
Washington announced that it would take control of Venezuela’s oil production and sales after the military operation that in early January led to the overthrow of Nicolás Maduro, now imprisoned in New York accused of drug trafficking.
“This will help put an end to the war in Ukraine,” added the Republican, whose government mediates between Moscow and kyiv to reach a peace agreement after almost four years of conflict.
Trump said India would reduce its tariff and regulatory barriers to “zero” and would also buy “more than $500 billion” in American products.
Modi stated shortly afterwards that he had had a “wonderful” telephone conversation with Trump and welcomed the reduction to 18% of tariffs on Indian products, but made no reference to stopping buying oil from Russia.
Last April, the US president imposed a 25% tariff on all Indian goods.
It later decided to add an additional 25% on many Indian products in August due to New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil, a surcharge that a White House official told AFP on Monday will be eliminated.
