In a special online media briefing organised by the international news agency and radio Sputnik, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the President of the Russian Federation, laid out Moscow’s strongest articulation yet of the depth, scope and future trajectory of India–Russia relations ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s visit.
He emphasised that the relationship is anchored in history, mutual trust and a shared worldview, and is poised for further advancement across defence, energy, technology and diplomacy.
Partnership Built on Deep Historic Understanding
Russia framed the India–Russia relationship as one that transcends transactional diplomacy. Peskov emphasised that the partnership is grounded in historical solidarity, shared strategic instincts, and mutual respect for global norms and each other’s interests.
Peskov said, “India and Russia relationship is not just a standard set of diplomatic…and trade agreements, it’s much more important, our bilateral relationships rest on a deep historic background of mutual understanding of partnership and mutual vision of global affairs and system of global affairs based on international law on rule of law and the ability of taking into account each others’ interests. This is a very important joint characteristic of our joint vision of the global affairs. We are proud to have been shoulder to shoulder next to our Indian friends in their historic growth and very grateful to India for a very friendly stand towards our country and our interaction on global and international affairs.”
He further highlighted the strong diplomatic alignment and said, “We are in very close dialogue with our Indian friends on the basis of United Nations, we are exchanging our views and finding that they correspond on various, majority fields.”
India–China–Russia Equation: ‘We Are Ready to Go As Far As India Is Ready’
Addressing concerns about Russia’s deepening strategic partnership with China, Peskov said Moscow’s cooperation with Beijing does not come at India’s expense. He stressed that Russia is equally committed to India and will develop ties with New Delhi strictly in accordance with India’s comfort and readiness.
Peskov said, “China is also our privileged strategic partner, and we enjoy a very high level of cooperation with China in various fields. Like with India, and yes it’s our readiness to enhance to develop our cooperation with China in various fields without no limits but with the same stance we share with India. ‘We are ready to go as as far as India is ready’ and ready to develop our cooperation on various fields as far as India is ready. We respect the bilateral relations between India and China and have no doubt that the two wisest countries, in order to keep global stability, predictability and peace and regional peace and Russia will be continuing to develop relations with both India and China.”
Defence: Technology Exchange Beyond Buyer–Seller Dynamics
Moscow underscored that defence cooperation with India is centred on co-development and high-technology sharing. This, it said, sets the partnership apart from conventional military trade and reflects a long-term vision of joint technological advancement.
Peskov said, “Our corporation on Defence industry, it’s not only production or just acts of buying and selling, its exchange of high technologies, know-hows and it really paves the way for a bright future in this area of corporation. We are developing quite a variety of very complicated systems and in this sense of course we have very imp capabilities and so we are experts in certain fields and our expertise has grown in last couple of years and we are ready to share this experience with India. I think this experience is of real value to India.”
Energy and Nuclear Cooperation as Pillars of the Partnership
Russia reaffirmed that energy security remains a cornerstone of the bilateral relationship, supported by stable supplies, competitive pricing and long-term joint investments. Moscow also highlighted its central role in building India’s peaceful nuclear energy capabilities.
Peskov said, “Russia continues to be a very imp supplier of energy sources to India on a competitive prices and we have no doubt that this trade is of a great benefit to India at the same time a mutual benefit. We exchange mutual, joint investments in this field and it makes this kind of corporation even more valuable for countries in terms of securing future of this corporation.”
On nuclear energy, he added, “We are deeply involved in creating a sector of peaceful ‘nuclear energy’ in India. ….We were hoping for continuation of this projects. It creates a sacred industry sector in India, we are taking part in educating them, in supplying India with technologists and so forth and therefore all of this is mutually beneficial.”
Trade Growth and Imbalance: Russia Promises Corrective Steps
While bilateral trade has seen unprecedented growth, Russia acknowledged India’s concerns about the imbalance. Moscow emphasised its willingness to buy more from India and diversify imports, with an importers’ forum scheduled ahead of Putin’s visit.
Peskov said, “We have managed to ensure the growth of our trade volume for more than 63 BN dollars and its overall trade volume, it’s significant but the potential is much higher and we do hope that before 2030, we will be able to reach the horizon of 100 BN dollars. It is very important that we have to organise our trade volume and our trade interactions in a way it is not affected by third countries.”
He highlighted the shift to national currencies and stated, “Nearly the whole volume of our trade relations is being paid by in national currencies, this is very imp because that’s how we are securing our trade, our sovereignty. We know that there are some countries that would try to put obstacles on our trade. So let’s stick to our interests, this is our approach. We hope India shares this approach as well.”
Acknowledging the gap, he added, “There is a real disbalance, in our trade, we are aware of that, we are selling more than we buy from India. We are jointly looking for possibilities of increasing imports from India to Russia. We want to buy more from India and during the visit of our Pres Putin, one day prior to the visit, there will be a forum of importers, this will be an event to discuss the possibilities to increase imports from India to Russia. Businessmen from both countries will be meeting together and they will be searching for goods, services, investments, for other trade in order to ensure Russia can buy more from India. We are working together with India to increase the amount of goods, services from India.”
US Tariffs and Western Sanctions: Russia’s Position
Moscow characterised the US tariffs on India’s oil purchases as strictly a bilateral matter between New Delhi and Washington, while reiterating its longstanding rejection of Western sanctions as illegitimate unless UN-approved.
Peskov responded, “Tariffs between India and US is rather a question of bilateral relations between India and US, what concerns us is the way we are going to continue and in large the volume of our bilateral business with India and not letting anyone interfere with that. This will be definitely discussed.”
On sanctions, he said, “Yes, there are sanctions against Russian companies, against sector of production but nonetheless we are finding ways to not let the volumes of trade down. They can be for a very less time, they can be insignificant drops in oil and volumes of trade but we consider those sanctions to be illegal. The only way sanctions can be considered legal is when it is approved by UN. So all these limitations we do not accept them and we are doing our best to ensure our trade and that our purchases of guarantee of oil and oil products. We have a deep experience in performing under regime of this illegal sanctions. We have our own technologies in doing that and will continue to make them more sophisticated.”
Ukraine Conflict: Moscow Appreciates India’s Balanced Diplomacy
Peskov said Russia values India’s stance on the Ukraine conflict, particularly its willingness to engage directly with Moscow and hear its position first-hand at a time when Russia claims dialogue with Europe has largely collapsed.
He said, “On Ukrainian war, we do appreciate the position and stand of India vis a viv in Ukrainian affair and the readiness of New Delhi to contribute to search of peaceful solution in this very complicated conflict and we respect the position of PM Modi. What we like is that PM Modi and our Indian counterparts are always there to listen to our positions from us firsthand. It gives us a possibility to explain ourselves and this ensures a mutual understanding. We do not speak with Europeans, we don’t have a dialogue so how can u learn your counterpart’s position. It is a terrible problem when we don’t speak to each other. But with India it is not the same, India wants to listen to us, it hears us and we want to explain ourselves and there is a mutual relationship.”
Humanitarian, Cultural, and Academic Bridges
Peskov highlighted the vibrant people-to-people dimension—one of the most enduring strengths of the bilateral relationship. Russia remains one of the largest destinations for Indian students, while Indian culture continues to enjoy wide popularity across Russia.
He said, “Thousands of students from India are receiving their education in Russia. We are ready to create all the best possible conditions for their education here in the Russian federation. Indian culture is very popular in Russia and we hope that India has reciprocal stance on that.”
Looking Ahead: High Expectations from Putin’s Visit
Moscow said it expects President Putin’s visit to India to build on the momentum generated last year during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Moscow, which involved extensive strategic discussions.
Peskov concluded, “India for us is a great partner, and we hope President Putin’s visit will be successful as it was for PM Modi one year ago to Moscow. The PM and President had lots of hours together, discussing the most sensitive issues of the global and regional agenda. We hope it would be the same for the day after tomorrow. Looking forward for great success and press in both countries to cover this visit as widely as possible.”