U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright sought to justify President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on India as part of his bid to end the Russia-Ukraine war. He described India as a valued ally with whom the U.S. intends to further strengthen relations.

“I am a huge fan of India. It is an awesome ally of America. But it is also buying Russian oil. We want to end the Ukraine War, and I believe India also wants that. We don’t want to punish India. We want to end the war, and we want to grow our relations with India,” Wright said Wednesday responding to a question from the media.

He attempted to rationalise the tariffs by claiming that President Donald Trump’s priority is global peace, and that the tariffs imposed on India are linked to its Russian oil imports. Despite this friction, Wright reiterated that the U.S. wants deeper trade and energy ties with India, framing it as central to both countries’ future cooperation. Wright said, in the past, he had focused on India, referring to it as the world’s largest democracy and a rapidly growing economy with rising energy needs.

“President Trump wants nothing more than this war to end, and it would have the additional benefit of removing a source of friction. I am all in on energy and trade cooperation with India. Russia trying to find peace in Ukraine is a sticky thing. There are lots of oil exporters in the world. India doesn’t need to buy Russian oil. India buys Russian oil because it is cheaper, they have to sell it at a discount,” Wright said.

Wright had met external affairs minister S. Jaishankar earlier during latter's U.S. visit for the UN General Assembly. Wright shared that the two diplomats discussed the ways of strengthening cooperation and charting a future pathway between the two countries.