Putin warns higher tariffs on India, China could raise global prices, slow US growth

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday criticised US efforts to pressure India and China into cutting energy ties with Moscow, warning that such moves could backfire economically.

Putin said that if higher tariffs are imposed on Russia’s trade partners, it would drive up global prices and force the US Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high.

That, in turn, would slow down the US economy, Putin told a forum of Russia experts.

He also warned of a “significant” response to what he called Europe’s growing militarisation.

Addressing a foreign policy forum in southern Russia, AFP quoted Putin as saying, “We are closely monitoring the rising militarisation of Europe. Retaliatory measures by Russia will not take long. The response to such threats will be very significant.”

“Russia will never show weakness or indecisiveness,” he added. Putin said he had no intention of attacking the US-led Nato alliance.

“If anyone still has a desire to compete with us in the military sphere, as we say, feel free, let them try,” Reuters quoted Putin as saying.

Russia, Putin said, had shown through the centuries that it would respond quickly if provoked, and mentioned specifically Germany’s ambition to have the most powerful army in Europe.

“The elites of united Europe continue to whip up hysteria,” Putin said.

“It turns out that war with the Russians is almost on the threshold. They repeat this nonsense, this mantra over and over again.”

Putin dismissed the idea that Russia would one day attack a member of the Nato military alliance as “impossible to believe”.

Earlier on Thursday, Russia dismissed the notion of a “Cold War” with the West, declaring the current standoff a “fiery” conflict and accused the European Union and Nato of spreading false claims about alleged Russian sabotage operations to justify massive military expenditures.

“I would disagree with the comparison with the Cold War,” Reuters quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as telling reporters when asked if there was now a new Cold War with an “Iron Curtain”-like drone wall being built in Europe.

“We are already in another form of conflict. There has been no cold here for a long time; there is already fire here,” she added.

Tensions between Moscow and the European Union have deepened since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, prompting EU states to ramp up defence spending and reinforce Nato deployments.

Recent drone incidents in Denmark and alleged Russian airspace violations in Estonia and Poland have raised fears that the Ukraine conflict could extend beyond its borders.

Putin, however, dismissed the concerns, accusing European leaders of fuelling “hysteria” to justify surging military budgets. “Just calm down,” he said.

Less than two months after US President Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska, prospects for peace appear to be fading further.

Russian forces are making continued gains in Ukraine, Russian drones are reportedly entering Nato airspace, and Washington is now weighing direct involvement in strikes deep within Russia — the world’s largest nuclear-armed state.

Responding to European accusations of Russian airspace incursions, sabotage, and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, Zakharova dismissed the claims as unfounded.

She alleged that the EU and Nato are using such allegations to set the stage for “provocations” against Moscow.

“All their statements indicate – first, that they are preparing a chain of provocations. Second, that they need to justify their military budgets,” Zakharova said.

With inputs from agencies