Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet on Friday (12/05/2025) with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi with the aim of boosting trade with one of Russia’s largest buyers of arms and offshore oil.
Putin arrived in India on Thursday to begin his first state visit to the Asian country since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a trip that seeks to shore up support for his strategic partner at a time of maximum tension with Washington.
The two-day visit comes in light of the sanctions imposed by India on its trade relationship with Russia since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, and at a crucial moment in the peace negotiations, after a week marked by the plan of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to end the conflict, and the meeting between the Russian President and the White House Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow.
New Delhi is currently in talks with the United States to reach a trade agreement to reduce the punitive 50% tariffs imposed by Trump on its products due to the Asian country’s purchases of Russian oil.
India is the second largest buyer of oil from Russia, although the volume of barrels of oil imported from Moscow has decreased in recent weeks due to US sanctions.
They expect to sign 15 agreements
In this sense, Putin said on Thursday in an interview with India Today channel that “Russian oil flows without problems in India,” and added that the business volume of Russian crude oil and its derivative products saw only a “slight adjustment” in the first nine months of 2025.
After arriving in New Delhi on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi received the Russian President as he got off the plane, in an unusual gesture by the Indian President. The two leaders held an informal meeting yesterday behind closed doors.
On Friday, Putin is scheduled to participate in the 23rd annual summit between India and Russia. Moscow and New Delhi are expected to sign fifteen agreements and dozens of documents, in addition to a joint declaration and a strategic development program for economic cooperation until 2030.
Today’s meeting between Putin and Modi will be held at Hyderabad House, the official residence in New Delhi where India holds its high-level diplomatic meetings.
In addition, a meeting with Indian President Draupadi Murmu, and a visit to the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi, the famous leader of the non-violent movement in India, are also scheduled.
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