Scott Kenneth Homer Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, has claimed that his country has made a greater sacrifice than Europe to stop the Russia-Ukraine War. He made the comment soon after India and the European Union (EU) signed a landmark Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in New Delhi on January 27, 2026. It seems that the FTA, described by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the “mother of all deals”, has irked Washington DC.

It may be noted that the Donald Trump Administration, frustrated by India’s continued Russian oil imports and BRICS participation, imposed a 25% tariff on Indian goods on August 1, 2025. Later, the US doubled the tariff to 50%, effective from August 27, 2025, and also hinted to impose secondary sanctions.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington DC, Bessent stressed: “The US has made much bigger sacrifices than the Europeans have. We have put 25% tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India.” He added: “The Russian oil goes into India, the refined products come out, and the Europeans buy the refined products. They are financing the war against themselves.“

It may be noted that President Trump has tried his best to stop the Russia-Ukraine War. Even before coming to power for the second time, he had claimed that he would stop the war immediately after assuming office. However, more than a year has passed since then. The US President has failed to stop the war, in spite of holding several rounds of talks with top Russian and Ukrainian officials. Also, he has not even been able to bring Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy to the negotiating table.

Amidst the Russia-Ukraine War, Kiev has consistently received support from its European friends. Various European leaders also held a meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the presence of President Trump at the White House in an attempt to corner Russia. However, the relations between the EU and the US have deteriorated in recent times over the Greenland issue.

On January 17, 2026, President Trump announced 10% tariffs on products from Britain, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands, effective from February 1, 2026, to pressure them to support a US purchase of Greenland. He also threatened to raise the tariffs to 25%, if no deal is reached by June 1, sparking global condemnation. The US President made it clear that the tariffs would remain in place until a deal for Greenland’s purchase is finalised.

A day after President Trump made the announcement, French President Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron urged the EU to activate Trade Bazooka (officially known as the Anti-Coercion Instrument or ACI), the powerful anti-coercion instrument of the 27-member bloc, on behalf of Paris, if the US went ahead with imposing tariffs on European countries. The EU has never used Trade Bazooka, which allows the bloc to curb imports of goods and services or restrict access to its single market in response to economic coercion. However, the European bloc has decided to take time before activating Trade Bazooka.

Meanwhile, the partnership between India and the EU has become significantly smoother, transitioning from a relationship often marked by “a gap in ambition” to a “proactive strategic partnership” based on shared interests in technology, security and supply chain resilience, in the changing global geopolitical landscape. This warming is driven by a shared need to navigate a more volatile world order, with the EU viewing India as a key, stable and democratic partner, particularly for diversifying its economic reliance away from the US, as well as China.

Political analysts are of the opinion that the FTA signed by India and the EU would be a game changer in the coming months, as far as global geopolitics is concerned. As the FTA would create troubles for the US, Bessent has launched a diplomatic attack on Europe.

Meanwhile,

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das