US President Donald Trump on Monday repeated his charge against the European Union and asked them to “stop buying oil from Russia” amid the ongoing war with Ukraine.While talking to reporters, Trump said that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has to make a peace deal with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.“Zelensky’s gonna have to make a deal. And Europe has to stop buying oil from Russia,” Trump said.This comes a day after Trump asserted that he does not want European nations to continue buying oil from Russia and criticised their sanctions as “not tough enough.”Speaking to reporters, Trump also reiterated his longstanding concerns over the Ukraine war and his desire to mediate a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.He said, “Europe is buying oil from Russia. I don’t want them to buy oil — and the sanctions that they’re putting on are not tough enough. I’m willing to do sanctions, but they’re going to have to toughen up their sanctions commensurate with what I’m doing.”This comes after Trump imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 per cent for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.India had termed the tariffs imposed on it as “unjustified and unreasonable.“Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,” India had said.Additionally, Trump urged Nato allies to sanction Beijing at rates of 50 to 100 per cent, accusing China of funding Russia and strengthening its military capacity in the Ukraine conflict.Beijing responded indirectly, with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi saying China is committed to “promoting peace talks to resolve hot-spot issues,” and that “wars cannot solve problems and sanctions would only complicate them.”China also clarified that “it does not participate in or plan wars” and emphasised dialogue, while calling for closer cooperation with Europe. Wang Yi made these remarks during his meeting with Slovenian counterpart Tanja Fajon.Notably, in this latest push, Trump left India out of his criticism, amid signs Washington and New Delhi are working on a separate agreement.
