Putin defies Trump with continued Russian oil shipments to India

Vladimir Putin has told the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, that Russia is ready to continue “uninterrupted” shipments of oil to India, signalling a defiant stance to the US as the two leaders met in Delhi and affirmed that their ties were “resilient to external pressure”.

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen

Yesterday’s statement, made after the annual India-Russia summit, appeared to be directed at western countries - particularly the US - that have attempted to put pressure on New Delhi to scale back its ties with Moscow.

In August, the US president, Donald Trump, imposed an additional 25% import tariff on India over its purchase of cheap Russian oil, arguing it was undermining US sanctions and helping Putin to bankroll the invasion of Ukraine.

The punitive tariffs were met with anger in New Delhi and were described by the Indian government as unreasonable and unjustified. India’s relationship with Russia goes back decades and is considered one of the country’s most important defence and geopolitical alliances.