Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavarov has termed India-Russia relations as a privileged strategic partnership. He said that multi -faceted cooperation between the two countries has been intact for a long time. Lavarov said that recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin met during the SCO Summit (Tianjin) in China and Putin’s visit to New Delhi in December. He said that the India-Russia agenda is very widespread, including the forums like trade, defense, technical cooperation, finance, healthcare, AI, SCO and BRICS.

On the question of America’s pressure to buy Russian oil on India, Lavrov said that India-Russia Economic Partnership is not in danger. India selects its partners themselves. If the US has conditions to increase Indo-US trade, then India will consider it, but the decision on relations with the third country is India’s internal matter. He appreciated India’s independent foreign policy comparing Turki to self -esteem countries.

Russian support for Indian foreign policy and oil purchase

On the question asked by India on oil imports from Russia, Lavrov said that Russia fully respects India’s national interests. He appreciated the independent foreign policy of Prime Minister Modi and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Lavarov said, “India is fully capable to decide to whom he bought. If the US wants to sell oil to India, then India can discuss the terms, but it is its sovereign decision what country it should buy from.

Importance of privileged strategic partnership

Lavarov said that relations between India and Russia are not a general partnership, but this privileged strategic partnership “. He also said that there is a regular exchange between India and Russia and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar will visit Russia this year, while he himself will visit India.

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US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a much awaited meeting on Saturday (16 August 2025) in Alaska. Trump described this dialogue as extremely useful. However, no concrete agreement has been reached yet regarding the Ukraine ceasefire.

Trump said that some issues have been agreed, but work is still left on big issues. There is no agreement until the agreement is done. At the same time, Putin said that some extent has been agreed in the conversation. He appreciated Trump’s friendly conversation. After this talk that lasted for about three hours, the two leaders interacted with the media, but refrained from answering questions.

India and tariff issue

In an interview given before the meeting, Trump, while referring to India, said that Russia has lost a big oil customer. He (Russia) has lost India, which was producing about 40% oil. If I imposed a secondary restriction, it will be disastrous for Russia. Trump had recently announced a 50% tariff imposing a 50% tariff citing Russian oil imports on India. Half a fee i.e. 25 percent tariffs have already come into force on 7 August. The remaining 25 percent will be applicable from August 27. In his executive order, Trump wrote that it is correct and necessary to impose additional value on importing oil from Russia directly or indirectly.

Status on Ukraine-Russia War

The main agenda of the meeting was the Russia-Ukraine war. Putin said that if Trump had been President in 2022, the Russia-Ukraine war would not have started. He warned the European Union not to disrupt the progress made in Alaska’s talks. Trump admitted that there was progress on some issues, but the situation of peace agreement is still far away.

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Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton has alleged that President Donald Trump’s trade policy has weakened the decades -old strategic efforts of India and the US. He said that he can bring India closer to Russia and China when buying heavy tariffs on India, especially Russian oil.

Softness on China, strictness on India
Bolton said that Trump started a mild business conflict with China in April, but withdrawn from a big step. At the same time, he put more than 50% tariff on India, including 25% secondary tariff. This tariff Trump imposed this because he said that India is funding the Russian war machine.

‘Worse result’ for America
Bolton said that this tariff brought the ‘worst result’ for America, because India strongly opposed it, especially because no such tariff was imposed on China. He says that this step can motivate India to interact against the US in association with Russia and China.

Former US official warning
US foreign policy expert Christopher Padila also warned that this tariff could harm India-US relations for a long time. He said that this may arise the question in the future whether America is a reliable partner, because India will remember this tariff.

‘Deal craving’ on China ‘
In his article written in The Hill, Bolton said that Trump’s softening on China can be seen as a “craving to the deal”, causing damage to American strategic interests. He warned that soft tariff rates for Beijing and strict tariffs for New Delhi would be “potentially big mistakes”.

India’s answer and Russia’s support
India described American tariffs as “inappropriate and impractical” and defended Russian oil imports. Russia also supported India and accused the US of putting “illegal trade pressure”.

Meeting Putin and Possible Strategy
Trump is going to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin soon. Bolton says that it will give Putin a chance to carry forward his strategy on many fronts and he can also use the issue of tariffs on India in his favor.