Vladimir Putin To Visit India On Dec. 5, Russian Forum Host Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a visit to India in December as the two countries continue to strengthen ties despite the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine. 

Putin is scheduled to visit New Delhi on Dec. 5, and will participate in the plenary session of the Russia-India Forum taking place that week, according to Roscongress, which is organizing the conference. The Kremlin earlier said the Russian leader would make the trip in December. 

Putin spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi by phone in October, and the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepen further the “special and privileged strategic partnership” between their countries, according to a statement from the South Asian nation’s government at the time. 

India had earlier resisted calls by President Donald Trump to halt purchases of Russian oil after the US imposed a punitive 50% tariff on Indian exports as Washington sought to ramp up pressure to halt Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Trump on Tuesday said Washington and New Delhi were “pretty close” to a trade deal that would allow him to reduce the tariff rate on Indian goods. The US president on Monday noted a reduction in India’s purchases of Russian oil, which have soared since the war began in 2022.

India is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which created The Hague-based International Criminal Court. That tribunal issued arrest warrants in March 2023 for Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, related to the alleged unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia since the Kremlin invaded. The warrant has largely limited Putin’s overseas visits to states that aren’t parties to the court, including China. 

Modi and Putin last met in Beijing when Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted a summit in the port city of Tianjin in September. The three leaders were photographed huddling in conversation on the sidelines and laughing casually.