The United States is willing to expand tariffs against buyers of Russian oil if the European Union takes similar measures, in order to reduce the income that Moscow needs for the war in Ukraine, a US official told AFP on Tuesday.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent received a European delegation on Monday and Tuesday, including the EU sanctions chief, David O'Sullivan.

Washington is pushing for the implementation of tariffs targeting buyers of Russian oil. The United States has already done it against India and wants to do it against China.

“The source of funding for the Russian war machine is oil purchases by China and India. If we don’t go to the source of that funding, we can’t stop the war. And that’s what we’re looking to do,” a US official told AFP.

Trump ready and asks the EU to “do the same”

According to this source, the US president is “ready to do it now, but he thinks the EU should do the same,” a message conveyed to European representatives, insisting that if Brussels is willing to align itself with the tariffs, Washington will act.

When asked at the White House on Sunday whether he was ready to launch a new phase of sanctions against Russia, Trump replied: “Yes, I am.”

For his part, Bessent had already stated on Sunday that the United States was “ready to increase the pressure” on Russia to end the war in Ukraine, calling on the EU to do the same.

At the same time, the Republican president assured through his Truth Social network that negotiations with India to "resolve the issue of trade barriers" between the two countries are continuing.

“I am confident that there will be no difficulty in reaching a conclusion satisfactory to both of our great countries!” Trump exclaimed in his message.