Kremlin Defends Nations’ Right to Determine Economic Partnerships

(MENAFN) Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday defended the right of sovereign nations to determine their own economic partnerships, responding to recent U.S. threats to impose higher tariffs on India.

"We believe sovereign countries must and do have the right to independently choose their trade and economic cooperation partners, as well as determine the forms of such cooperation that align with their own interests," Peskov stated, addressing Washington's pressure on New Delhi over its oil trade with Russia.

He also criticized efforts aimed at forcing countries to end economic ties with Moscow, labeling such pressure tactics as illegitimate.

The comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump, in a post on the Truth Social platform Monday, vowed to impose steep new tariffs on India in response to its purchase and resale of Russian oil.

In a follow-up interview with media on Tuesday, Trump reiterated the threat, saying, "We settled on 25 percent, but I think I'm going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours because they're buying Russian oil." He further claimed, "India has not been a good trading partner."

India's Ministry of External Affairs responded on Monday, rejecting criticism from the U.S. and European Union regarding its Russian oil imports as "unjustified and unreasonable."

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