'Europe financing war against themselves': US Treasury Bessent calls out EU’s India refined fuel imports

Even after Europe scaled down direct energy buying from Russia, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued that revenue is still reaching Moscow through a different route. He claimed European customers are effectively supporting the Russia-Ukraine conflict by importing petroleum products from India that were refined using Russian crude, at the same time, the United States is levying heavy duties on Indian exports over those purchases.

His comments come just ahead of Tuesday’s India–EU summit, where New Delhi and Brussels are expected to publicly confirm that they have wrapped up negotiations on a wide-ranging free trade agreement, bringing trade, energy security and geopolitics into sharper focus.

Bessent points to Europe’s India link in the oil trade

In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Bessent defended the Trump administration’s decision to penalise India with steep tariffs and said European policy is being undercut by continued dependence on Russian-linked supply chains.

"We have put 25 per cent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India," Bessent said.

He then described what he views as the core problem in the current system.

"And just to be clear again, the Russian oil goes into India, the refined products come out, and the Europeans buy the refined products. They are financing the war against themselves," he added.

Bessent suggested the outcome exposes an imbalance, with Washington taking harsher steps while allied governments still gain from gaps in enforcement across global energy markets.

Trump’s endgame, and the message to partners

Bessent said President Donald Trump has pursued a negotiated end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and argued the US has absorbed an outsized share of the political and economic pressure involved. Under Trump’s leadership, Bessent said, "we will eventually end" the war.

The remarks arrive at a moment when energy flows and trade policy are again straining US-Europe coordination, with American officials signalling irritation over what they see as inconsistent sanction discipline.

India–EU trade pact: a long negotiation, now near closure

The India–EU free trade pact has been in the works since 2007 and is viewed as a core pillar of a wider partnership between the two sides as supply chains and trade alliances are being reshaped.

People familiar with the negotiations say the agreement could expand preferential access for Indian exports, particularly from labour-heavy industries such as textiles, chemicals, gems and jewellery, electrical machinery, leather goods, automobiles and footwear.

India tariffs, Russia oil, and a hint that US duties could ease

The Trump administration has imposed duties as high as 50 per cent on Indian goods, including a 25 per cent charge explicitly linked to India’s intake of Russian crude. Those penalties were increased in August, tightening the trade dispute between Washington and New Delhi.

Still, Bessent has recently indicated there may be space for rollback if India’s purchases of Russian oil continue to decline. Speaking to Politico during the World Economic Forum, he said Indian refineries have cut these imports sharply.