United Nations, 23 Sept

China and India are the "primary funders" of the Ukraine war by continuing to purchase Russian oil, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday in his address to the UN General Assembly.

The Trump administration has imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on New Delhi as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, taking the total levies imposed on India by the US to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world.

"China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil,” Trump said in his over an hour-long address at the General Debate of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.

India has called the tariffs imposed by the US “unjustified and unreasonable”.

India has said that, like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.

In his address, Trump said that “inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products” and he wasn’t happy about this when he found this out.

“Think of it, they're funding the war against themselves. Who the hell ever heard of that one? In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the US is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs, which would stop the bloodshed, I believe, very quickly.”

Trump said that for those tariffs to be effective, European nations, “all of you are gathered here right now, would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures. I mean, you're much closer to the city. We have an ocean in between, you're right there, and Europe has to step it up. They can't be doing what they're doing. They're buying oil and gas from Russia while they're fighting Russia.

“It's embarrassing to them, and it was very embarrassing to them when I found out about it, I can tell you that. But they have to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia, otherwise, we're all wasting a lot of time. So I'm ready to discuss this. We're going to discuss it today with the European nations all gathered here.”

“Sure, they're thrilled to hear me speak about it, but that's the way it is. I like to speak my mind and speak the truth,” he added.