North Atlantic Treaty Organization chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday warned that secondary sanctions could hit countries such as India, China and Brazil if they continue to trade with Russia amid the war on Ukraine, Reuters reported.

“My encouragement to these three countries, particularly is, if you live now in Beijing, or in Delhi, or you are the president of Brazil, you might want to take a look into this, because this [secondary sanctions] might hit you very hard,” the NATO secretary general told reporters.

“So please make the phone call to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and tell him that he has to get serious about peace talks, because otherwise this will slam back on Brazil, on India and on China in a massive way,” Rutte added.

NATO is a military alliance of 32 countries, including the United States and several members of the European Union.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, which triggered the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II. The United States and its European allies have imposed sanctions on Russian businesses and exports to force Moscow to negotiate a peace deal with Kyiv.

India and China are among the countries whose imports of cheaper fuel from Russia has increased since 2022. This has raised concerns in Washington that high volume purchases are undermining the West’s attempts to squeeze the Russian economy and thus, indirectly, helping finance its military operations in Ukraine.

The comments by Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, came a day after US President Donald Trump announced the provision of new weapons for Ukraine and threatened a secondary tariff of 100% on countries purchasing Russian exports unless there was a peace deal within 50 days.

Rutte said on Wednesday that Europe would find the funds to ensure Kyiv is in the best possible position during the peace negotiations with Moscow.

Also read: Hares and hounds: How India bought Russian oil without angering the US