In an interview to Politico, Bessent said, “We put 25 per cent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, and the Indian purchases by their refineries of Russian oil have collapsed. So, that is a success… The 25 per cent Russian oil tariffs are still on. Pointing to the Russia oil tariffs, the US Treasury Secretary said it’s a check and huge success, but took a dig at his European allies. “…our virtue-signalling European allies refused to do it because they wanted to sign this big trade deal with India,” Bessent said. According to him, before the Ukraine invasion, approximately 2-3 per cent of Indian oil that went into its refineries came from Russia.

Source: Indian Express January 25, 2026 00:14 UTC