The U.S. has asked G7 countries to impose tariffs on countries purchasing oil from Russia, asserting that only “unified efforts” that cut off funding to Moscow’s war machine at source can apply sufficient pressure to end “the senseless killing.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the United States Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer were on a call with G7 Finance Ministers on Friday (September 12, 2025) when they reiterated President Donald Trump’s call to the bloc’s partners about imposing tariffs on countries purchasing oil from Russia.

François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Finance and National Revenue, chaired a meeting of G7 Finance Ministers to discuss further measures to increase pressure on Russia to end its war against Ukraine.

G7 is an intergovernmental bloc of rich, industrialised countries comprising the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.K. Canada is the head of the rolling G7 presidency this year.

“During today’s call with G7 Finance Ministers, Secretary Bessent reiterated President Trump’s call to our G7 partners that, if they are truly committed to ending the war in Ukraine, they should join the United States in imposing tariffs on countries purchasing oil from Russia,” a U.S. Treasure Department statement said after the call.

The statement did not name any country. But the U.S. has often blamed India and China for purchasing Russian oil even when there are no tariffs on Beijing for it.

“Only with a unified effort that cuts off the revenues funding (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war machine at the source will we be able to apply sufficient economic pressure to end the senseless killing,” said Secretary Bessent and Ambassador Greer.

“Thanks to President Trump’s bold leadership, the United States has already taken dramatic action against the purchasers of Russian oil. We are encouraged by the assurances of our fellow G7 nations that they are committed to ending this war, and we are hopeful that they will join us in taking decisive action at this critical time,” the statement added.

The U.S. has doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50%, including a 25% additional duty for India’s purchase of Russian crude oil, an action that New Delhi has described as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”

India has been maintaining that its energy procurement, including buying oil from Russia, is driven by national interest and market dynamics.

India and the U.S. have been negotiating a bilateral trade agreement since March. So far, five rounds of negotiations have been completed.

For the sixth round, the U.S. team, which was to visit India last month, deferred its visit due to the imposition of a 50% tariff on Indian goods by Washington.

Trade relations between the two countries have been strained due to the high tariffs. The two countries had earlier announced plans to conclude the first phase of the India-U.S. bilateral trade agreement by the fall of 2025.

A statement from Champagne said, “Russia’s increasingly aggressive stance, including recent bombings in Ukraine and Wednesday’s violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones, and its unwillingness to agree to a ceasefire have prompted this G7 meeting.”

Canada, as part of its G7 Presidency, remains committed to working closely with G7 allies to increase pressure on Russia and support Ukraine’s long-term security and recovery, he said in the statement posted on X.

“G7 Ministers agreed to accelerate discussions to further use immobilised Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine’s defence, and to explore other mechanisms that would allow further increasing financial support to Ukraine,” it added.

Secretary Bessent and Ambassador Greer also welcomed commitments to increase sanctions pressure and explore using immobilised Russian sovereign assets to further benefit Ukraine’s defence, it said.

On Friday, President Trump, when asked in an interview with ‘Fox and Friends’ what clamping down on his Russian counterpart entails, said: “Look, India was their biggest customer. I put a 50% tariff on India because they’re buying oil from Russia. That’s not an easy thing to do. That’s a big deal and it causes a rift with India.”

Published – September 13, 2025 03:08 pm IST

Mumbai:

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said that India would continue buying crude oil from Russia if it is available at a discount emphasising that the government is “committed” to buying the most economically-priced crude oil.

“We used to buy less than 0.2 per cent from Russia in February 2022. Now, we are buying 30 per cent. If it’s available at good discounts, we will buy it. If it (crude oil) is available elsewhere (at a discounted price), we will buy (from that market),” Hardeep Singh Puri, who is Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said during a media interaction here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “commitment is to make energy available round the clock in the most affordable manner, along with the transition to green energy”, the minister said.

“We are not committed to buying any quantity from anyone. We are committed to buying the most economically priced energy of a grade of crude that you (refineries) want.” He said that the government was open to entering both long terms as well as spot deals with oil-producing countries.

“We float tenders at the point of importation. What that means is if we have a requirement for a particular route, we’ll float a tender and then whoever can supply it .. supply. Payment terms will always follow from that will follow. Sometimes special situations arise where you are able to do it, mostly transactions are denominated in Dollars and as you go forward you try some local currency,” he said.

“Energy is available in abundance supply. More and more crude is coming to the market in spite of the cutbacks that came from some of the producers,” he said.

Responding to a question on the refinery project in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, the minister said the project was not viable on account of its size (60-million metric tons per annum capacity).

“I think our position as of now is that instead of 60 million metric tons per annum we are looking at the possibility of three (refineries) into 20 million metric tons per annum for which discussions are going on behind the scenes.” Notably, the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (RRPCL), a joint venture company, was formed in 2017 by three national oil companies, namely Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.

It proposes to implement an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex on the west coast of Maharashtra.

Saudi Aramco (SA) and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the two global oil and gas majors, have also expressed their intent to partner in this project.

Hardeep Singh Puri, however, said that the refining capacity is going up with the current at around 268-270-million metric tons per annum, adding that “we already have plans in motion to go up to 310-million metric tons per annum.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)