The US on Wednesday urged its allies not to enter into transactions with Russia and warned that it would trigger American sanctions, a day after it was reported that India was planning to purchase the multi-billion dollar S-400 missile defence system from Moscow.
Interestingly, the US announcement comes before Russian President Vladimir Putin begins his two-day visit to India on Thursday. Late last month, the Trump administration imposed sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act or CAATSA, which was signed into law last August, on China for purchasing fighter jets and the S-400 missile defence system from Russia. The CAATSA law tries to push back against Russia’s malign activity around the world.
“We urge all of our allies and partners to forgo transactions with Russia that would trigger sanctions under CAATSA,” a State Department Spokesperson told PTI when asked about India’s plan to purchase the S-400 missile defence system from Russia. “The [Trump] administration has indicated that a focus area for the implementation of CAATSA Section 231 is new or qualitative upgrades in capability including the S-400 air and missile defence system,” the spokesperson said.
According to reports, India and Russia will sign a deal for the S-400 surface-to-air missile system this week. The signing of the deal for Moscow’s most advanced air defence system will be overseen by Putin during the annual India-Russia summit, reports said. “The president is trying to develop a relationship and change that, but we’ve not been successful, at least to date,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told NBC News in an interview.
In September, a senior Trump Administration official told reporters that purchase of major military system like the S-400 missile defence system would be considered as a “significant transaction and thus has a potential” for CAATSA sanctions. The official emphasised that the ultimate target of these sanctions was Russia. “The CAATSA sanctions in this context are not intended to undermine the defence capabilities of any particular country. They are instead aimed at imposing costs upon Russia in response to its malign activities,” the Trump administration official had said.
On Thursday, Putin is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the evening. Modi and Putin will hold the India-Russia summit on Friday, after which agreements will be exchanged and the two leaders will make press statements, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Besides holding talks with Modi, Putin will also have a meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday, according to the MEA. Sources had earlier said Modi and Putin would also deliberate on the impact of US sanctions on import of crude oil from Iran.
