Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took a dig at the United States in an interview and criticised the tariffs introduced by US President Donald Trump on several countries. 

Lavrov, in an interview with TV BRICS, said that there are efforts to ban India and other partners from purchasing Russian oil, according to ANI, Sputnik reported .

The Russian Foreign Minister also spoke about several areas, such as the peace talks in Alaska last year, and how Washington has set itself the objective of achieving economic domination while they use “coercive” measures like tariffs, sanctions, and direct prohibitions.

Lavrov said, “They (US) tell us that the Ukraine problem should be resolved. In Anchorage, we accepted the US Proposal… The US position was important to us. By accepting their proposal, we seem to have completed the task of resolving the Ukrainian issue and moving on to a dull-scale, broad-based and mutually beneficial cooperation.”

“So far, the reality is quite the opposite. New sanctions are imposed, and a ‘war’ against tankers in the open sea is being waged in violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. They are trying to ban India and our other partners from buying cheap, affordable Russian energy resources (Europe has long been banned), and are forcing them to buy US LNG at exorbitant prices,” he added. 

He said that the US has set itself the objective of ‘achieving economic domination’, adding further to it that Americans want to control the routes to leading countries to provide their energy sources to them.

Calling the measures coercive and incompatible with fair competition, Lavrov said that the use of tariffs, sanctions, direct prohibitions, and forbidding some from engaging with others are the steps being taken to meet their objectives.

“We have to take all of this into account while remaining open, just like India, China, Indonesia, and Brazil, to cooperation with all countries, including major powers such as the United States. We are in a situation where the Americans themselves are creating artificial obstacles along the way,” he said.

Lavrov, in an interview, also reportedly said that Washington is trying to control Moscow’s trade and military ties with some of its “strongest partners,” including New Delhi. 

India’s oil import

His statement comes as Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday said that “national interest” would continue to guide India’s energy-related decisions, underlining that the key drivers of the country’s energy policy are “adequate availability, fair pricing and reliability of supply”, amid reports suggesting New Delhi is cutting its oil imports from Russia.

Misri noted India is a net importer in the oil and gas sector and, as a developing economy, must remain conscious of its resource availability and the impact of import dependence on inflation.

India-US trade deal 

The US reduced the tariffs on India to 18 per cent, and Trump announced that the US and India “have agreed to a trade deal” with Washington reducing the reciprocal tariff. 

In his Truth Social post, Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to “stop buying Russian Oil,” and to buy much more from the US.

“It was an Honor to speak with Prime Minister Modi of India this morning. He is one of my greatest friends and a Powerful and Respected Leader of his Country. We spoke about many things, including Trade, and ending the War with Russia and Ukraine. He agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela. This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!” he said. 

“Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a Trade Deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reduced Reciprocal Tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%. They will likewise move forward to reduce their Tariffs and Non Tariff Barriers against the United States, to ZERO,” Trump’s post further read.

There has been no confirmation from India about a reduction in Russian oil purchases; however, New Delhi has said that the energy imports would depend upon market conditions.