Trump calls India, China 'primary funders' of Ukraine conflict, demands NATO countries to halt Russian energy purchases

US President Donald Trump said he thought the Ukraine-Russia conflict would be the easiest to resolve, but blamed countries like India, China and some European nations for continuing trade with Moscow for the prolonged war.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, the US president said he has been working "relentlessly" to stop the "killing in Ukraine". "Among the wars that I had stopped, I thought this (Ukraine-Russia conflict) would be easiest because of my relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin," he said. "In war, you never know what is going to happen, there are always surprises...", the US president added.

"China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil," charged Trump. He added that even NATO countries are "inexcusably" continuing energy trade with Russia. "They are funding the war against themselves," he said.

Trump imposed an additional penalty tariff of 25 per cent on Indian imports over its trade ties with Russia. The US administration wants India to end defence and energy purchases from Russia. However, India called the tariffs "unjustifiable"  and said India's energy purchases were guided by national interests.

"Everyone thought Russia would win the war in three days," Trump said, adding, "It was supposed to be a quick little skirmish; this is making Russia look bad." 

Saying Russia has been fighting Ukraine for over three years, Trump claimed the war "never would have started" if he was the president of the US. 

Saying the US is ready to impose another round of "powerful" tariffs on Russia if it fails to agree to a peace deal, Trump said European nations should adopt similar measures for the tariffs to be effective. "European nations must cease all energy purchases from Russia, otherwise, we are all wasting time."