PM Modi speaks to Putin days after Trump’s ‘oil tariffs’; leaders reaffirm to deepen India-Russia ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday (August 8, 2025) that he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone and thanked him for sharing the ‘latest developments’ on Ukraine.

In a post on X, Mr. Modi said both leaders also reviewed the progress in the bilateral agenda and reaffirmed their ‘commitment to deepen the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership’.

Mr. Modi also invited the Russian President to visit India later this year for an annual bilateral summit.

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval also met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kremlin yesterday. Mr. Doval, speaking to Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, on Thursday confirmed that plans for President Putin’s India visit are “almost finalised”.

India and Russia have been in discussions for Mr. Putin’s visit to India since the beginning of the year. Mr. Putin last visited India on December 6, 2021, when India hosted the annual summit meeting at Hyderabad House.

The talks between both the leaders come two days after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed additional tariffs on India, citing continued purchase of Russian oil by Indian entities. The Minister of External Affairs reacted to the additional tariffs by Mr. Trump and called them ‘extremely unfortunate’.

In response to the additional tariffs on India, Kremlin also accused the U.S. of exerting illegal trade pressure on India. “We hear many statements that are in fact threats, attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia. We do not consider such statements to be legal,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“We believe that sovereign countries should have and do have the right to choose their own trading partners, partners for trade and economic cooperation, and to choose for themselves the forms of trade and economic cooperation that are in the interests of a particular country,” he said.