‘Delhi in now on phone with Putin’: NATO chief Mark Rutte insists 50% tariff on India has immediate effect on Russia

The 50 per cent tariff on India by the US has worked well since that brought India on a phone call with Russia, demanding to know the strategy from hereon, said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. While the tariffs impact Russia immediately, they are unhappy that the war has continued for as long as it did.

The 50 per cent tariff on India “immediately affects Russia”, said the NATO chief. “That (50 per cent tariff) means that Delhi is now on the phone with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and Narendra Modi asking him ‘Hey, I supported you but could you again explain to me this strategy because I have now been hit with this 50 per cent tariff by the United States’. So President Trump is implementing what he says, but, of course, we are not happy that so far we have not been able to end the war,” said Rutte in an interview with CNN.

Rutte also said that Trump’s remark on Russia turning out to be a paper tiger hit a nerve in the Kremlin. He said the Russians spent an entire day saying ‘Hey we are not a paper tiger, we are a bear’. “When you see a bear, you know you see a bear,” said Rutte, adding that this means that Russia is insecure.

The NATO chief said Putin is not making the progress he wants, has long queues at gasoline stations to fill up cars because Ukraine has been “so successful” in hitting the oil refineries. “He is not in a good place. President Trump feels that and is putting pressure on Putin – ‘Come to the table’.

Russia said on Wednesday that it was economically stable and its army was advancing in Ukraine, in response to Trump, who urged Kyiv to take advantage of what he described as Russian economic weakness and to reclaim all its captured territory.

Trump made a sudden shift in rhetoric on Tuesday, stating that he believed Ukraine could retake all the land seized by Russia, which currently controls about a fifth of the country.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Trump's comments were influenced by his recent meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Peskov said, "Of course, President Trump heard Zelenskiy's version of events. And apparently at this point, this version is the reason for the assessment we heard."

Peskov added that the Russian army was making gains in Ukraine and advancing cautiously. He said this approach was to minimise losses and preserve offensive potential. Western military analysts attribute the lack of recent Russian breakthroughs to a determined Ukrainian defence and the prolonged nature of the conflict.

He said, "The dynamics, I repeat, show that for those who are unwilling to negotiate now, the position will be much worse tomorrow and the day after."

Peskov dismissed Trump's description of Russia as a "paper tiger," saying Russia was a bear and there was no such thing as a paper bear.