Kremlin slams Trump tariff pressure on India over Russian oil as illegal

Moscow: Russia accused the United States on Tuesday of exerting illegal trade pressure on India after US President Donald Trump threatened again to raise tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil.

"We hear many statements that are in fact threats, attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia. We do not consider such statements to be legal," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We believe that sovereign countries should have and do have the right to choose their own trading partners, partners for trade and economic cooperation, and to choose for themselves the forms of trade and economic cooperation that are in the interests of a particular country."

Trump has said that from Friday he will impose new sanctions on Russia as well as on countries that buy its energy exports, unless Moscow takes steps to end its 3-1/2 year conflict with Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signalled no change in Russia's stance on the war, despite the looming deadline.

New Delhi has called Trump's threats "unjustified" and vowed to protect its economic interests, deepening a trade rift between the two major economies.

Two Indian government sources told Reuters on the weekend that India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite Trump's threats.