Russian President Vladimir Putin met the India National Security Advisor on Thursday, one day after Washington has hiked in New Dehli for his oil purchases from Moscow.
US President Donald Trump imposed the additional 25% rate on Indian products, being set up in three weeks, as part of a campaign to put pressure on Russia to put an end to his Ukraine offensive by affecting his business partners.
India is a major Russian oil buyer, a key revenue source for the Moscow state budget.
Russia is also one of the best weapons suppliers in India and the hot links between the two countries date back to the Soviet era.
Find out more: Pakistan warns India deep strikes
The Kremlin has published images of Putin shaking with Ajit Doval, but provided no details of their discussions.
At a meeting before Moscow, Doval said that the dates for a visit to India by Putin were “almost finalized”.
The Kremlin criticized the calls to “force countries to break commercial relations” with Russia as “illegitimate”, without directly mentioning Trump.
The Western allies of Ukraine sought to reduce the profits of Russia exports since Moscow launched its military assault in February 2022.
Read also: India feels the pinch while Trump doubles prices
But Russia has been able to redirect energy sales far from Europe to countries like India and China, ensuring that the flow of funds of several billion dollars continued.
India has argued that it has imported oil “from Russia because traditional supplies have been diverted to Europe after the conflict trigger”.
