‘Right idea’ to impose tariffs on countries making deals with Russia: Zelenskyy

NEW YORK: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that it is the “right idea” to impose tariffs on countries making deals with Russia, without naming India.

“I think the idea to put tariffs on the countries who continue to make deals with Russia…. I think this is right idea,” Zelenskyy said in an interview aired on ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday.

Zelenskyy was asked if he thinks that the plan to put sanctions backfired when he saw pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin.

US President Donald Trump has doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duties for India's purchase of Russian crude oil. India described the US action as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable".

Zelenskyy had dialled PM Modi on August 30, two days ahead of Modi's meeting with President Putin on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tianjin.

He conveyed his readiness for a meeting with the top leadership of Russia and added that the end of the war must begin with an immediate ceasefire.

An Indian readout released after the call said Modi reaffirmed India's "steadfast and consistent position" for a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict and support for efforts aimed at the earliest restoration of peace.