Trump Targets India Oil Buying, Shadow Fleet to Pressure Putin

US President Donald Trump may follow up on hits additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil with other measures to force Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump’s administration is also considering new sanctions on Moscow’s covert fleet of oil tankers and several entities that enable them to operate, sources told us before the fresh India tariffs were announced. Earlier today, Putin wrapped up a meeting with with US envoy Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin, where he exchanged “signals” on Ukraine, a Russian official said without elaborating.

Targeting Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers would restrict an instrumental way for Russia to move its oil in the face of US and European sanctions. “The shadow tanker fleet is the backbone of Russia’s sanctions evasion and war financing,” said Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff. —