Putin criticises U.S. efforts to pressure India and China into cutting energy ties with Moscow

admin — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 19:02:00 +0000

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on Thursday, October 2, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised on Thursday (October 2, 2025) U.S. efforts to pressure India and China into cutting energy ties with Moscow, warning that such moves could backfire economically.

Mr. Putin said that if higher tariffs are imposed on Russia’s trade partners, it would drive up global prices and force the U.S. Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high.

President Vladimir Putin said that the global economy would suffer without Russian oil, warning that prices would jump to over $100 per barrel if its supplies were cut off.

That, in turn, would slow down the U.S. economy, Mr. Putin told a forum of Russia experts.

Putin on trade payments between India & Russia

Russia and India must resolve issues in trade payments between the two countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday (October 2, 2025). Mr. Putin said the issue could be resolved within the BRICS countries or by other means.

Warns U.S. on missile supply to Ukraine

Mr. Putin said that a decision by the United States to supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would trigger a major new escalation with Washington, but would not change the situation on the battlefield.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said on Sunday (September 28, 2025) that Washington was considering a Ukrainian request for Tomahawks.

Asked what the supply of Tomahawks would mean, Mr. Putin said it would be dangerous as the cruise missiles were powerful and posed a threat.

“It is impossible to use Tomahawks without the direct participation of American military personnel,” Mr. Putin said at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

“This will mean a completely new, qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the United States.”

Mr. Putin said Tomahawks could harm Russia, but that it would simply shoot them down and improve its own air defence.

Two U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday (September 30, 2025) that the United States would provide Ukraine with intelligence on long-range energy infrastructure targets in Russia, as it weighed whether to send Kyiv missiles that could be used in such strikes.

Putin on nuclear arms control

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would carry out a nuclear test if another nuclear power did so after saying that Moscow had seen signs that an unnamed country was preparing to conduct such tests.

Mr. Putin repeated his offer to the U.S. of voluntarily rolling over caps on nuclear warheads when a key arms control treaty expires next year if Washington does the same.

Mr. Putin, who said that dialogue with the United States remained complicated, said one of the factors that should be taken into account in any new arms control talks is the fact that Russia had a new missile, the Oreshnik complex.

If the U.S. decided that it did not want to do a deal on rolling over the New START treaty, Mr. Putin said Russia was confident in its own nuclear shield.

If China signed up to any future nuclear arms control, Mr. Putin said he thought the nuclear arsenals of Britain and France should also be taken into account.

Published – October 03, 2025 12:32 am IST

Source link

Russia-India energy ties to increase this year, says Trade Commissioner

admin — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 15:27:16 +0000

Russian Trade Commissioner Alexander Rybas. File
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Marking the 70th anniversary of commercial ties, Russia and India will launch major energy initiatives and a business club to connect big business houses on both sides more closely, Russian Trade Commissioner Alexander Rybas has said.

In a written interview to The Hindu, Mr. Rybas, who is the highest ranking Russian trade representative in India, said withdrawal of western companies from Russia had opened opportunities for Indian pharmaceutical, energy, and food industries in Russia and that the fertilizer sector was one of the priorities for both sides.

“This year, further petrochemical conversion will be launched at Nayara Energy, which has a Russian share. In our case, in the context of the development of Russian-Indian business relations, against the background of the withdrawal of some Western companies from the Russian market, prospects are opening up for Indian businesses to occupy vacant niches in various industries, including oil production, pharmaceuticals, chemical and food industries, diamond-cutting industry and other sectors,” Mr. Rybas said, highlighting that Indian investments in Russia at present exceeded $14 billion and “continues to rise”.

Post-1947 India’s commercial ties with Moscow were kickstarted in 1953 when the first trade agreement between the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the Government of India was signed.

“The Russian Federation, as a state, is the internationally recognised successor of the USSR,” Mr. Rybas said, arguing that the two sides had recently taken major strides in the industrial sector like the Russian company NLMK’s transformer steel production unit in Maharashtra and the order for 120 Vande Bharat trains given to Metrowagonmash Mytischi.

He further mentioned a Russia-India (Reliance-Sibur) plant for the production of butyl rubber and halobutyl rubber that has come up in Gujarat where high-quality raw material for tyres are being manufactured.

While India-Russia energy trade has increased dramatically since the beginning of the Ukraine war in 2022, the business environment between the two countries was also shadowed by the prospects of western sanctions.

Mr. Rybas dismissed the possibility that western sanctions could hurt bilateral business between Russia and India and observed that the sanctions had in fact opened an area of opportunity between Indian and Russian industrial sectors.

”The current geopolitical situation has influenced global supply chains, payment settlement systems, logistics, the implementation of bilateral and multilateral projects. At the same time, it served as an incentive for the formation of new logistics routes and alternative payment mechanisms,” he said.

The prospects of bilateral trade was discussed during the 24th India-Russia Inter Governmental Commission meeting on April 17 here which was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry of Russia.

Russian diamonds with Indian cuts

Mr. Rybas said the fertilizer sector provided an area of cooperation between India’s agriculture sector and Russian producers.

“I know that many Russian and Indian companies have signed long-term contracts for the supply of fertilizers in demand in India. Cooperation in this industry is one of the priorities for our countries. There are all the prerequisites for further growth,” he said.