Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit India in December, according to a Kremlin aide, as ties between the two countries grow closer in the face of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Indian imports over its purchases of Russian oil.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, including AFP, that Putin will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China on Monday, where they would discuss “preparation for the December visit".
Earlier, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had confirmed that Putin will visit India soon, although the dates were yet to be finalised at the time. “We have got a special, long relationship and we value this relationship," he said.
This came after US President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on imports from India, citing New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil as the reason for the punitive measure.
Trump has accused India of profiting from discounted Russian crude, writing, “India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian oil, they are then, for much of the oil purchased, selling it on the open market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian war machine."
The United States has insisted that the punitive tariffs on India are part of a campaign to pressure Moscow into ending its offensive in Ukraine. India has called the move “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable", citing the US and Europe’s own imports from Russia.
Ukraine’s Western allies have sought to cut Russia’s export earnings since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Moscow redirected energy sales away from Europe to countries including India and China, ensuring the multi-billion-dollar flow of funds has continued.
Earlier this month, Putin made a phone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to share his assessment of his meeting with President Donald Trump in Alaska on the Ukraine war. The PM underlined India’s consistent position for a peaceful resolution of the conflict through diplomacy and dialogue.
The two leaders also touched upon a number of issues of bilateral cooperation with a view to further strengthening the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia.
Source: News18