 "Putin meets NSA Doval amid US tariffs row")
A day after Washington hiked tariffs on New Delhi over its purchases of Moscow’s oil, Russian President Vladimir Putin met India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday.
The Kremlin published footage of Putin shaking hands with Ajit Doval, though provided no details of their discussions.
🇷🇺🇮🇳 #Russia’s President Vladimir Putin received #India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval at the Kremlin.#RussiaIndia#DruzhbaDosti@PMOIndia @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/d9Kx3OwyoY
— Russia in India 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbIndia) August 7, 2025
US President Donald Trump has imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, set to take effect in three weeks, as part of a broader strategy to pressure Russia by targeting its trade partners.
This raises the total US import duty on India to 50%, one of the highest rates applied to any country.
The move specifically targets India’s role as a major purchaser of Russian oil — a critical revenue stream for Moscow’s economy.
Russia is also one of India’s top arms suppliers and the warm ties between the two countries date back to the Soviet era.
At an earlier meeting between Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Sergey Shoigu and NSA Doval in Moscow, Russia and India stressed their commitment to a “strategic partnership” in bilateral security talks.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe parties discussed ways to further strengthen the Russia-India special and privileged strategic partnership and emphasized the importance of joint efforts in preparation of the bilateral summit by the end of this year.
They also discussed cooperation between Russia and India in multilateral formats and exchanged views on topical issues of international security.
Doval also confirmed that the dates for a visit to India by Putin were “almost finalized”.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin slammed calls to “force countries to sever trading relations” with Russia as “illegitimate”, without directly mentioning Trump.
Ukraine’s Western allies have sought to cut Russia’s export earnings since Moscow launched its military assault in February 2022.
But Russia has been able to redirect energy sales away from Europe to countries including India and China, ensuring the multi-billion-dollar flow of funds has continued.
India has argued it imported oil “from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict”.
With inputs from agencies
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
