US President Donald Trump’s aide accuses India of financing Russia's war in Ukraine

A top aide to President Donald Trump has accused India of effectively financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by purchasing oil from Moscow, after the US leader escalated pressure on New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil.

“What he (Mr Trump) said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia,” said Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House and one of Mr Trump’s most influential aides.

Mr Miller’s criticism was some of the strongest yet by the Trump Administration about one of the United States’ major partners in the Indo-Pacific.

“People will be shocked to learn that India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil. That’s an astonishing fact,” Mr Miller told Fox News.

The Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday that New Delhi will keep purchasing oil from Moscow despite US threats.

A 25 per cent tariff on Indian products went into effect on Friday as a result of its purchase of military equipment and energy from Russia.

Mr Trump has also threatened 100 per cent tariffs on US imports from countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace deal with Ukraine.

Mr Miller tempered his criticism by noting Mr Trump’s relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which he described as “tremendous”.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack caused two oil tanks to catch fire at an oil depot in Sochi in southern Russia but the blazes were later extinguished, local authorities said on Sunday.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the surrounding Krasnodar region, said more than 120 firefighters were deployed.

The Russian defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 93 Ukrainian drones overnight, including one over the Krasnodar region and 60 over the waters of the Black Sea.

The ministry reports only how many drones its units destroy, not how many Ukraine launched.

Rosaviatsia, Russia’s civil aviation authority, briefly halted flights at Sochi’s airport before resuming them.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which has staged frequent attacks on infrastructure inside Russia that Kyiv deems key to Moscow’s war efforts.

A woman was killed in the Adler district of Sochi in a Ukrainian drone attack late last month, but attacks on the city, which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, have been infrequent in the war that Russia launched in February 2022.

The Krasnodar region is home to the Ilsky refinery near the city of Krasnodar, among the largest in southern Russia and a frequent target of Ukraine’s drone attacks.

Also on Sunday, the governor of Voronezh region in southern Russia said four people were injured in a Ukrainian drone strike that caused several fires, while Russia launched a missile attack on Kyiv, according to the military administration of the Ukrainian capital.

The Russian defence ministry said that its units destroyed 18 Ukrainian drones over the Voronezh region that borders Ukraine.