Trump blames India, China for Ukraine war, slams UN

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday delivered his first in-person address to the United Nations General Assembly in seven years, sharply criticising the UN for failing to prevent global conflicts and migration crises. He also blamed India and China for fuelling the war in Ukraine by continuing to purchase Russian oil.

“China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil. Even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and energy products, which, as I found out two weeks ago, I wasn’t happy about,” Trump said, describing the buying of Russian oil by some countries as “funding the war against themselves”.

Trump warned that if Russia was unwilling to negotiate an end to the war, the US was prepared to impose a strong round of tariffs to stop the bloodshed. “But for these tariffs to be effective, European nations — all of you gathered here — would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures,” he said.

At the UNGA, Trump highlighted the accomplishments of his first term, including economic growth, curbing illegal border crossings, and, most notably, stopping seven wars in recent months.

“The only thing that solves war is action,” Trump said, taking credit for brokering peace in disputes involving Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Congo and Rwanda, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan. “No President or Prime Minister, and for that matter no other country, has ever done anything close to that,” he said.

Trump sharply criticised the UN for inaction, quipping, “All I got from the UN was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle,” and accused it of creating new problems, including facilitating migration.

However, he softened his tone later during a bilateral meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “It’s always an honour to be here. We’ve done this before, and this was a little more exciting because of the escalator, the teleprompter — these things happen. But your people have treated us with great respect. Our country is behind the UN 100 per cent,” Trump said.

On energy and climate, Trump dismissed the green energy transition as a “scam”, arguing that western nations were being bankrupted by high energy costs while China thrived. “If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail,” he warned, highlighting US fossil fuel and nuclear energy as models of efficiency and affordability.