President Donald Trump’s public tirade against India at the UN General Assembly may have been aimed at New Delhi, but its intended audience could very well have been in Moscow. By fiercely attacking one of Russia’s key economic partners, Trump is sending a clear and indirect message to Vladimir Putin: your financial lifelines are in my crosshairs.
Having failed in his direct mediation efforts in the Ukraine war, which included a meeting with Putin in Alaska, Trump is now pursuing a strategy of indirect economic warfare. His speech was a declaration that he will aggressively target any country that helps sustain the Russian economy.
By making an example of India—a major, friendly nation—Trump demonstrates the lengths he is willing to go. The accusation that India is a “primary funder” of the war, coupled with the imposition of 50% tariffs, is a powerful signal to the Kremlin that its circle of economic partners is not safe from US pressure.
The message to Putin is twofold. First, that Russia’s oil revenues are under direct threat as the US will punish its customers. Second, that Russia’s ability to maintain strong relationships with major non-Western powers is being actively undermined by US policy. This is an attempt to increase Russia’s isolation and economic pain.
While India bears the immediate brunt of this strategy, the ultimate target is the Russian war effort. Trump’s public shaming of India is a tool in his broader geopolitical struggle with Putin, a high-stakes move that uses a strategic partner as a pawn in a great power conflict.