Russian leader Vladimir Putin traveled to the remote Valaam Monastery after US President Donald Trump issued a sharp ultimatum over Ukraine and threatened to cut Russia out of India’s oil market—a key outlet for nearly half of Moscow’s crude exports, the Kremlin press service reported on August 1.
Putin made the pilgrimage to the Valaam Monastery in the Karelia region alongside Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
The two authoritarian allies visited the Spaso-Preobrazhensky (Transfiguration) Monastery and took part in a prayer service at the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God.
Photos released by the Kremlin show Putin and Lukashenko holding candles and surrounded by clergy from the Russian Orthodox Church during the religious ceremony.
Following the service, the two leaders held private talks, the Kremlin said, without disclosing details.
The visit came just hours after Trump said he would impose sweeping new sanctions on Russia and potentially block its oil exports to India if Moscow did not change its course in Ukraine.
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The trip to Valaam—often portrayed as a place of spiritual reflection—appeared timed to convey symbolic resolve amid mounting international pressure.
Previously, it became known that at least four tankers carrying Russian oil idled off India’s western coast after local refineries refused to accept the shipments.
The Achilles and Elyte tankers, each carrying around 700,000 barrels of Urals crude, are anchored near the port city of Jamnagar. The vessels loaded their cargo in late June from the Russian ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga and were scheduled to offload on August 2 and 3. Both ships are under EU and UK sanctions, raising compliance concerns for potential buyers.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump condemned Russia’s latest deadly missile strike on Kyiv, calling the attack “disgusting” and promising new sanctions against Moscow.
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