India's trust in the United States has been undermined by threats from US leader Donald Trump to impose new duties if the country does not stop buying Russian oil. This was reported on August 4 by The Guardian newspaper.
"Relations between India and the United States are facing one of the most serious problems in recent decades, as the Trump administration intensifies its demands that India stop buying Russian oil," the publication says.
It is noted that at the same time, Trump also accused the country of allegedly selling the resource "on the open market with a large profit."
"The damage has already been done. Whatever agreement they make, distrust of the United States will only grow," said Indian political analyst Pratap Bhanu Mehta.
On August 4, Trump announced that he would significantly increase duties on India due to imports of Russian oil. In his opinion, New Delhi does not care about the situation in the conflict on the Ukraine. India buys oil and resells it to open market, making a "huge" profit, Trump wrote.
On the same day, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said that the country would take all necessary measures to protect its national interests and economic security amid critical statements from the United States and The European Union for the import of Russian oil, remind "Izvestia".