Trump says India sanctions despite ‘very close’ ties with PM Modi, accepts Putin let him down

“I’m willing to do other things, but not when the people that I’m fighting for are buying oil from Russia. If the oil price comes down, very simply, Russia will settle,” he said.

As a sign of his resolve, he mentioned the sanctions on India to get them to stop buying oil from Russia: “I’m very close to India. I’m very close to the Prime Minister of India, I spoke to him the other day to wish him a Happy Birthday. We have a very good relationship and he put out a beautiful statement too. But I sanctioned them.”

VIDEO | Aylesbury, United Kingdom: In a joint PC with UK PM Keir Starmer, US President Donald Trump (@POTUS) says, "I am very close to India, I am very close to the PM of India. I spoke to him the other day. I wished him a Happy Birthday. We have a very good relationship."… pic.twitter.com/cFVjwW92vF

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 18, 2025

Trump also mentioned China’s payment of a “very large tariff” to the United States and stressed that he was willing to take further action in the Russia-Ukraine conflict only if “the people that I’m fighting for are buying oil from Russia.”

‘Putin has let me down’

Addressing the joint press conference with Keir Starmer at the British Prime Minister’s countryside residence of Chequers in Buckinghamshire, Trump said his “biggest disappointment” had been that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “let him down” over the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

He reiterated his track record in foreign policy, claiming he has been able to “solve” seven wars that were previously “unsolvable” or “couldn’t be negotiated” since taking office. He added that his relationship with Putin had led him to believe that the Ukraine conflict could be quickly resolved.

“We did seven and most of them were not thought to be settleable. We did India, and we did Pakistan. That’s two nuclear [countries],” he told reporters when asked about the Russia-Ukraine war.

He framed the intervention as being driven by trade incentives: “That was purely for trade. You [India and Pakistan] want to trade with us, you’re going to have to get along. And they [India and Pakistan] were going at it hot and heavy,” Trump said.

Following Operation Sindoor, which India’s response to a Pakistan-backed terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April, Trump took to social media to declare that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire. He also repeatedly asserted that he told the two nuclear-armed neighbours that the US would offer “a lot of trade” if they halted hostilities.

However, New Delhi has consistently denied any third-party involvement, stating that the ceasefire understanding was reached through direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries’ armed forces.

Meanwhile, on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump said he hoped for “some good news” but noted that the situation doesn’t directly impact the US. “You [the UK] are a lot closer to the scene than we are. We have a whole ocean separating us. But I will say this, millions of people have died in that war,” he added.

Opening the joint press conference, Starmer described himself as “more optimistic than ever and more confident than ever” about the UK-US partnership. Trump also commended Starmer as a “tough negotiator” while welcoming the “historic” and “very good” trade deal struck between the two countries earlier this year.