‘Right idea’: Ukraine’s Zelenskyy backs Trump tariffs on countries trading with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday told ABC News that United States President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on countries, including India, that continue to trade with Russia was a “right idea”.

“We have to stop [buying] any kind of energy from Russia and by the way, anything, any deals with Russia,” Zelenskyy said during an interview to the American news network. “We can’t have any deals if we want to stop them.”

“I think that President [Trump] wants to finish this war,” Zelenskyy added.

On Sunday, Trump said that he was prepared to move to the “second phase” of sanctions on Russia, Reuters reported. The US president did not elaborate on the details.

Since launching its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has earned about $985 billion from oil and gas exports, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

Trump’s remarks on Sunday followed his criticism of leaders attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.

Trump had remarked on Friday that India and Russia had been “lost to deepest, darkest China”.

The developments come in the backdrop of strained diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Washington, mainly because of Trump having imposed so-called reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods and punitive levies for...

Read more