U.S. President Donald Trump labeled Russia and strategic ally India as “dead economies” and announced that planned tariffs on New Delhi will be imposed, AFP reported.

In a late-night post on the Truth Social platform, Trump stated: “I don’t care what India does with Russia. Let their dead economies sink together—it doesn’t matter to me.”

He added that the United States has “very little trade with India,” accusing the country of maintaining “very high tariffs, some of the highest in the world.” Regarding Moscow, Trump remarked: “Russia and the U.S. do almost no business with each other. Let’s keep it that way.”

The statement came after Trump officially announced that India would be subject to 25% tariffs, as well as an unspecified “penalty measure” over its purchases of Russian weapons and energy resources. The 79-year-old U.S. president emphasized that the tariffs would go into effect but provided no details about the sanctions related to India’s trade with Russia, which remains under sweeping Western sanctions due to the war in Ukraine.

Trump stated that the U.S. will impose additional sanctions on Russia within ten days if no action is taken to end the three-year conflict. He has already warned of potential “secondary tariffs” on Moscow’s remaining trading partners, including China and India—a move that could further cripple Russia’s economy but also risks triggering serious international tensions.

In response to Trump’s threats, former Russian President and close Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev dismissed the remarks as a “theatrical ultimatum,” saying that “every new ultimatum is a threat and a step toward war.” Trump replied by calling Medvedev a “failed former president of Russia who thinks he’s still in charge” and warned him to “watch his words,” stressing that he was “entering very dangerous territory.”

The new 25% tariff on India is slightly lower than what was announced in April but remains higher than the tariffs imposed on other Asian countries that have already reached preliminary trade agreements with Washington.

India, the world’s most populous nation, was among the first major economies to launch negotiations with the Trump administration for a broader trade deal. However, six months later, the White House’s sweeping demands and New Delhi’s reluctance to fully open its agricultural and dairy sectors have yet to yield an agreement. | BGNES