World News | Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Dismisses Trump's Tariff Threat
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday downplayed US President Donald Trump's threat to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Russia and its trading partners, asserting that Moscow is well equipped to withstand additional sanctions.
Tianjin (China), Jul 15 (PTI) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday downplayed US President Donald Trump's threat to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Russia and its trading partners, asserting that Moscow is well equipped to withstand additional sanctions.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting of the Foreign Ministers Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) here, Lavrov underlined that Russia is already under “an unprecedented number of sanctions” and expressed confidence in the nation's ability to cope with any new burdens.
"The number of sanctions announced against us is already unprecedented. We are coping; I have no doubt we will cope (with the possible US sanctions)," he said.
This conclusion is based in particular on the assessment and the analysis of many independent Western economists and politicians, he said.
Trump has threatened to impose import tariffs at about 100 per cent on Russia and its trading partners if Moscow fails to reach an agreement with the US on the settlement in Ukraine within 50 days.
Lavrov said Moscow would like to understand what Trump meant by allocating 50 days to reach a settlement on Ukraine, the Russian news agency Tass reported.
"We would like to understand what is behind this statement after about 50 days. Earlier, there were also deadlines of 24 hours and 100 days; we've seen it all and really would like to understand the motivation of the US president," he said.
Lavrov also said the SCO countries have reiterated their commitment to Iran's legitimate right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
"We reiterated our countries' commitment to observing Tehran's legitimate right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy," he said.
The SCO comprises 10 member states, namely China, Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus. China currently holds the rotating presidency of the SCO.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)