United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he does not care about “what India does with Russia” and that the “they can take their dead economies down together, for all I care”.

“We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world,” Trump said on social media. “Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together.”

Trump added: “Let’s keep it that way, and tell [Dmitry] Medvedev, the failed former president of Russia, who thinks he’s still president, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!”

It was unclear what comment by Medvedev was Trump referring to.

On Monday, Medvedev had said on social media that Trump was playing “the ultimatum game” with Russia and that such an approach could lead to a war involving the US.

Medvedev wrote: “Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with [Trump’s] his own country.”

Trump’s comment on Thursday came a day after he announced a 25% tariff on goods imported from India from August 1. He added that India will also have to pay a “penalty” for buying a large portion of its military equipment and fuel from Russia amid the war on Ukraine.

However, he did not specify the quantum of the “penalty”.

Later in the day, however, Trump said that his administration is still negotiating the final tariff rate with India.

“They [India] have one of the highest tariffs in the world now, they’re willing to cut it very substantially,” Trump said during a press briefing. “We are talking to India now, we’ll see what happens…You’ll know by the end of this week.”

When asked about the so-called penalty on India for its trade ties with Russia, the US president also linked it to New Delhi’s membership in the BRICS grouping.

The BRICS grouping comprises India, Brazil, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Washington views the group as attempting to become an economic counterweight to the US.

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The United States has said on several occasions it will impose so-called reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries that have not negotiated separate trade agreements with it by August 1.

Trump announced higher levies in April, before pausing those tariffs at a reduced 10% rate to allow time for negotiations. Despite an extended deadline, Trump has only secured a handful of deals.

Trump had said on June 27 that New Delhi could sign a “very big” trade deal with Washington soon. On July 2, the White House said that the deal was close to being finalised and would be announced soon.

An Indian team led by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had visited the US in May to negotiate the agreement. Following this, a team of negotiators from the US was in India for a week in June.

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