White House says 'road to peace (Russia-Ukraine) runs through India': TOI

New Delhi, Aug 22: The White House on Thursday escalated pressure on New Delhi over its purchase of Russian oil, with senior officials claiming that “the road to peace (on the Russia-Ukraine front) runs through India,” reports Times of India.

US President Trump’s trade counsellor Peter Navarro told reporters he does not expect Trump to extend the August 27 deadline for doubling tariffs on India, calling the move a penalty for what he described as profiteering from Russian crude.

“I love India. Look, [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi is a great leader. But please, please India, like, look at what is, what your role here is in the global economy and good here. It’s like, what you’re doing right now is not creating peace, it’s perpetuating the war,” Navarro said. He described India’s actions as “a refining profiteering scheme,” reports The Times of India.

Navarro alleged that India “uses the money that they get from us when they sell us stuff” to buy Russian oil, process it, and profit from it. “But then the Russians use the money to build more arms and kill Ukrainians, and so American taxpayers have to provide more aid, military style, to the Ukrainians. So that’s insane, and President Trump sees that chessboard beautifully,” he added.

The Times of India report noted that US commentators have pushed back against this framing, questioning why Washington has not acted against China, which is a far larger buyer of Russian oil. Navarro himself has previously conceded that Beijing holds leverage that constrains American action.