PM Modi Asked Putin to Explain Ukraine Strategy Due to US Tariffs on India, Says NATO Chief

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte reportedly told CNN that Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of the United States’ steep 50% tariffs with Russian President Vladimir Putin, linking the trade penalty to the war in Ukraine.

September 26, 2025: NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said at the UN General Assembly that Indian PM Modi is putting pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine issue. He said this was because of the high US tariffs on India.

According to CNN, Rutte said that Modi asked Putin to “explain the strategy” for the war because the conflict is having a direct effect on India’s economy.

“Trump’s tariffs on India are having a huge effect on Russia. “Delhi is talking to Vladimir Putin in Moscow… and Narendra Modi is asking him to explain the strategy on Ukraine because India is being hit with tariffs,” Rutte said.

The US Tariff and Russia Link

The background for this supposed high-level talk is the tough trade moves made by US President Donald Trump. Washington put duties on all Indian goods, with an extra 25% penalty for New Delhi buying cheap Russian crude oil. The Trump administration says that India’s oil purchases indirectly support Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.

India has vigorously protested the tariffs, calling the US’s actions “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable.”

The NATO chief’s comments come after Russia’s top ambassador spoke at the UN and said that NATO and the EU were exploiting Ukraine to fight a “real war” against Moscow.

Caste-Based Comment That Caused Controversy

Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, has made the diplomatic row even worse. Navarro had made a contentious comment about the caste system in India, saying that the Brahmin community was “profiteering at the expense of the Indian people” from the Russian oil trade. This was to defend the President’s decision.

There was no immediate formal response from either Indian or Russian officials about the NATO chief’s claims about the Modi-Putin conversation, though.