Top Trump aide Scott Bessent says Europe financing ‘war’ against itself by buying oil products from India

While Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal on Sunday said that negotiations had concluded between India and Europe, the legal scrubbing of the free-trade agreement (FTA) text is underway. The endeavour will be to complete the processes and sign the pact at an early date, he said.

Thus, while the deal is expected to be signed this year, and it may come into effect early next year.

EU had joined US over sanctions on Russian oil

It should be noted that the EU had also joined the US with more economic sanctions on Russian oil. The EU’s 18th sanctions package against Russia, adopted on July 18, 2025, prohibits the import of petroleum products refined from Russian crude through third countries.

Meanwhile, India and the EU had over closed nearly 20 chapters out of 24 amid the imposition of US tariffs. In a social media post, US Republican Sentaor Lindsey Graham earlier this month said that Trump had approved a “Russia sanctions Bill” that proposes 500 per cent tariffs on “all goods and services” imported from countries that “knowingly engage in the exchange” of Russian-origin “uranium and petroleum products”.

Bessent says US sacrificed more than Europeans

Lauding US President Donald Trump for his efforts to settle the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Bessent said the US has made much bigger sacrifices than the Europeans. Exuding confidence in the Trump administration, Bessent said, “we will eventually end” the Russia-Ukraine war, which has now entered its fourth year.

‘Financing war against themselves’

“We have put 25 per cent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India,” Bessent told ABC News Sunday.

Bessent said: “And just to be clear again, the Russian oil goes into India, the refined products come out, and the Europeans buy the refined products. They are financing the war against themselves.”

Bessent’s jibes at EU

Before this, Bessent had referred to the US tariffs on Russian oil as a “huge success”. On January 24, Bessent told Politico, “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 tariffs are still on. The 25 per cent Russian oil tariffs are still on. I would imagine that there is a path to take them off, so you know that that’s a check and a huge success.”

“I will also point out that our virtue signalling European allies refused to do it because they wanted to sign this big trade deal with India,” he said. Pointedly hitting out at India, Bessent said that before the Ukraine invasion, Russian oil accounted for only 2 -3 per cent of India’s total oil imports but following the invasion the share of Russian oil in Indian refineries went up to 18-19 per cent, helping India make “huge profits”

“…but in the ultimate act of irony and stupidity, guess who was buying the refined products from the Indian refineries made from Russian oil ..the Europeans. They are financing the war against themselves,” Bessent said.

Trump’s tariff troubles

US-India ties came under a strain after the Trump administration imposed 25 per cent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, atop the 25 per cent reciprocal import levies.

Official trade data showed that India’s imports from Russia have declined by over 18 per cent between April and October last year compared to the previous year, and New Delhi’s imports from Washington jumped 62 per cent during the same period.

Since taking over the US administration in January last year, the Republican President has been imposing a slew of restrictions and tariffs on different nations, leading to a disruption in global trade. A cessation of conflicts in Russia-Ukraine and in the Middle East was one of the key poll promises made by the second-time American President.

On Sunday, Trump extended greetings and hailed the “historic bond” between Washington and New Delhi.