U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday (September 15, 2025) the Trump administration would not impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods to halt China’s purchases of Russian oil unless European countries hit China and India with steep duties of their own.

Mr. Bessent told Reuters and Bloomberg in a joint interview that European countries needed to play a stronger role in cutting off Russian oil revenues and bringing its war in Ukraine to an end.

“We expect the Europeans to do their share now, and we are not moving forward without the Europeans,” Mr. Bessent said when asked whether the U.S. would impose Russian oil-related tariffs on Chinese goods after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped an additional 25% duty on Indian imports.

Mr. Bessent said he pointed out in talks with Chinese officials in Madrid on trade and TikTok that the U.S. had imposed tariffs on Indian goods and that Mr. Trump has been urging European countries to impose tariffs of 50% to 100% on China and India to cut off Russian oil revenue.

He said the response from the Chinese side was that oil purchases are a “sovereign matter”.

Mr. Bessent criticised purchases of Russian oil by some European countries, while others buy petroleum products refined in India from Russian crude purchased at discounted rates, saying they were helping finance a conflict in their own backyard.

“I guarantee you that if Europe put on substantial secondary tariffs on the buyers of Russian oil, the war would be over in 60 or 90 days because it would cut off Moscow’s main revenue source,” Mr. Bessent said.

The Treasury chief said the tariffs on Indian goods over Russian oil purchases had brought “substantial progress” in talks with India. New Delhi and Washington will hold another round of talks with the U.S. on Tuesday (September 16, 2025) amid a recent thaw in rhetoric between Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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Mr. Bessent said the U.S. would be willing to work with European countries to consider steeper sanctions on Russian entities, including oil majors such as Rosneft and Lukoil, along with steps to prepare for greater use of Russian sovereign assets that have been frozen since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

This could be achieved by seizing small portions of the $300 billion in frozen assets to start, or placing them in a special purpose vehicle that could serve as collateral for a loan to Ukraine, he said.

India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of penalties, two Government sources told The New York Times, not wishing to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

“These are long-term oil contracts,” one of the sources said. “It is not so simple to just stop buying overnight.”

Mr. Trump last month indicated in a Truth Social post that India would face additional penalties for purchases of Russian arms and oil. On Friday (August 1, 2025), Mr. Trump told reporters that he had heard that India would no longer be buying oil from Russia.

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The New York Times on Saturday (August 2, 2025) quoted two unnamed senior Indian officials as saying there had been no change in Indian government policy, with one official saying the government had “not given any direction to oil companies” to cut back imports from Russia.

Reuters reported this week that Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian oil in the past week, following a narrowing of discounts in July.

“On our energy sourcing requirements … we look at what is there available in the markets, what is there on offer, and also what is the prevailing global situation or circumstances,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters during a regular briefing on Friday.

Mr. Jaiswal added that India has a “steady and time-tested partnership” with Russia, and that New Delhi’s relations with various countries stand on their own merit and should not be seen from the prism of a third country.

The White House in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Indian refiners are pulling back from Russian crude as discounts shrink to their lowest since 2022, when Western sanctions were first imposed on Moscow, due to lower Russian exports and steady demand, sources said earlier this week.

The country’s state refiners — Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd — have not sought Russian crude in the past week or so, four sources familiar with the refiners’ purchase plans told Reuters.

India’s top oil supplier

On July 14, Mr. Trump threatened 100% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace deal with Ukraine. Russia is the top supplier to India, responsible for about 35% of India’s overall supplies.

Russia continued to be the top oil supplier to India during the first six months of 2025, accounting for about 35% of India’s overall supplies, followed by Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

India, the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer, received about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil in January-June this year, up 1% from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by sources.

Nayara Energy, a major buyer of Russian oil, was recently sanctioned by the European Union as the refinery is majority-owned by Russian entities, including oil major Rosneft .

Last month, Reuters reported that Nayara’s chief executive had resigned after the imposition of EU sanctions and company veteran Sergey Denisov had been appointed as CEO.

Three vessels laden with oil products from Nayara Energy have yet to discharge their cargoes, hindered by the new EU sanctions on the Russia-backed refiner, Reuters reported late last month.