On December 4, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives at Palam Air Base in New Delhi, India, where he is received by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Grigory Sysoev | via Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed Russia’s willingness to provide India with “uninterrupted transportation of fuel” as the US pressurizes New Delhi to give up oil imports.
President Putin made the proposal in a joint speech with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. It was part of Russia’s first visit to the country since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which triggered widespread sanctions.
Sanctions have forced Russia to look for new customers for exports. India is the second-largest buyer of Russian crude oil after China, buying 38% of Russian crude oil exports in October, according to a report by the Finland-based Energy and Clean Air Research Center.
In October, President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on two of Russia’s largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. This followed India’s imposition of a 25% tariff on Russian oil purchases in August. But India has to walk a tightrope because it has close ties with the United States but relies on Russia for access to fuel and munitions.
President Putin questioned US pressure on India in an interview with an Indian television channel on Thursday.
Putin said in an interview that the United States still buys nuclear fuel from Russia for its nuclear power plants, adding: “If the United States has the right to buy American fuel, why shouldn’t India have the same privilege?”
President Trump acknowledged that India is cutting oil imports from Russia, but experts told CNBC this could be a temporary trend.
Apart from crude oil, Russia’s Rosatom is also reportedly supplying reactors and fuel to India’s Kudankulam nuclear power plant with a total capacity of 6,000 MW in Tamil Nadu.
India and Russia have an energy partnership, the Russian president said, adding that Moscow is a reliable supplier of “oil, gas, coal and everything needed for India’s energy development.”
Last month, India announced a “historic agreement” with Washington, with India’s state-owned oil company signing a one-year deal to import about 2.2 million tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas a year from the United States.
