Trump Treasury chief Scott Bessent slams India-EU trade deal, says Europe put commerce over Ukraine

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has once again slammed Europe’s newly concluded free trade agreement with India. Besent said the deal showed the European Union had prioritised commercial interests over its stated support for the Ukrainian people.

“They should do what's best for themselves, but I will tell you, I found, I find the Europeans very disappointing,” Besent said, speaking to CNBC on Wednesday. The Treasury Secretary said he was disappointed with Europe's position, claiming Brussels had chosen trade interests despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Besent's remarks came a day after India and the European Union on 27 January 27, 2026 announced the conclusion of negotiations over a free trade agreement (FTA) that would see the EU drop tariffs on 99.5% of items India exports to the region, with most tariffs going down to 0% immediately once the agreement comes into effect.

India, on the other hand, has given tariff concessions on 97.5% of the traded value between the two economies.

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič signed the joint political declaration on the conclusion of the negotiations on the FTA, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council António Costa in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The move is expected to potentially double EU exports to India by 2032 and save European companies around 4 billion euros in duties.

Bessent said the deal also explained why the European Union declined to align with Washington's decision to impose higher tariffs on India last year. "The Europeans were unwilling to join us, and it turns out, because they wanted to do this trade deal," he said.

"So every time you hear a European talk about the importance of the Ukrainian people, remember that they put trade ahead of the Ukrainian people."

Besent also accused European countries of indirectly funding Russia's war by purchasing refined fuel products derived from Russian crude oil. "The Russian oil goes into India, the refined products come out, and the Europeans buy the refined products," Bessent said. "They are financing the war against themselves."

The Treasury Secretary had criticised the deal earlier, too. In an earlier interview with ABC News, he pointed out that Washington had imposed 25 per cent tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil, even as Europe proceeded with its trade deal.

"We have put 25% tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India," Bessent said. "And just to be clear again, the Russian oil goes into India, the refined products come out, and the Europeans buy the refined products. They are financing the war against themselves."

Bessent also said the Trump administration had applied greater pressure on Moscow than its European counterparts in efforts to end the conflict. "Trump has worked to negotiate a settlement on the Russia-Ukraine conflict," he said, adding that the United States had made "much bigger sacrifices" than Europe.

The conclusion of negotiations on the India-EU FTA marks the end of a two-decade-old process. Talks between the two sides on the agreement began in 2007. The negotiations resumed in 2022 with both sides agreeing to exclude issues on which agreement had been elusive.

In the next steps, the language in the document will be cleaned up over the next 10-15 days, followed by “legal scrubbing”. Then it will be sent to all 27 EU member states after being translated, before it is ratified by the European Parliament, according to officials quoted by different media. They said the deal would be rolled out at least after 5-6 months.

“Today, India has concluded the largest Free Trade Agreement in its history,” Prime Minister Modi said in his statement on Tuesday.

(With ANI inputs)