Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday told ABC News that United States President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on countries, including India, that continue to trade with Russia was a “right idea”.

“We have to stop [buying] any kind of energy from Russia and by the way, anything, any deals with Russia,” Zelenskyy said during an interview to the American news network. “We can’t have any deals if we want to stop them.”

“I think that President [Trump] wants to finish this war,” Zelenskyy added.

On Sunday, Trump said that he was prepared to move to the “second phase” of sanctions on Russia, Reuters reported. The US president did not elaborate on the details.

Since launching its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has earned about $985 billion from oil and gas exports, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

Trump’s remarks on Sunday followed his criticism of leaders attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.

Trump had remarked on Friday that India and Russia had been “lost to deepest, darkest China”.

The developments come in the backdrop of strained diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Washington, mainly because of Trump having imposed so-called reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods and punitive levies for purchasing Russian oil amid the Ukraine war.

The Trump administration had announced on August 6 that it would double the tariffs on Indian goods to 50% for purchasing Russian oil. A 25% so-called reciprocal tariff had already taken effect.

The US president has repeatedly alleged that India’s imports were fuelling Russia’s war in Ukraine.

New Delhi had previously said that it was “extremely unfortunate” that the US had chosen to impose additional tariffs on India “for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest”.

During a telephone conversation with Zelenskyy on August 11, Modi reaffirmed India’s “steadfast and consistent” position for peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine and support for efforts aimed at the “earliest restoration of peace”, the Ministry of External Affairs had said.

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