Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov underscored the resilience of India-Russia ties, crediting mutual respect for national interests and thanking India for its “friendly stand” on Ukraine.
He acknowledged US pressure on India over Russian oil but said both countries are working to build a trade architecture insulated from third-country sanctions, aiming for USD 100 billion bilateral trade by 2030.
Peskov noted shifts in global currency use and ongoing efforts to move away from dollar-centric trade, even as sanctions temporarily affect Russian oil production and some Indian buyers reduce purchases.
Peskov Calls For India–Russia Trade Free From To Third-Party Pressure
Peskov praises India as a “friendly partner” while urging that the $100-billion trade target be shielded from outside interference.
Summary
Ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to India, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson spoke of the importance of India-Russia relations in the current geo-political environment of global flux. He said that the relations have survived mainly because both countries took into account "each other’s national interests."
He thanked India for its "friendly stand" on Ukraine.
"We have a historic relationship with India and they have been mutually beneficial. Our relationship with India has a long history. I hope they have a bright future.’’
Asked about his views on US sanctions on India for lifting Russian oil, Peskov was non-committal. "It's a bilateral issue between India and the US.’’ He admitted there was pressure on India and said keeping all this in mind "We have to be very careful in creating an architecture to secure our trade that brings mutual benefit to our peoples.’’
Peskov said that by 2030 India and Russia hoped to reach a trade volume of $100 bn. "Our trade should not be impacted by any third country. Almost all volumes of trade are in national currencies now.’’ However India had to pay in US dollars for the purchase of discounted Russian oil.
When questioned about companies like Reliance that were no longer lifting Russian oil for fear of secondary sanctions that would ban them from business in the US as well as all American financial networks, Peskov did not give a direct reply.
"Some countries are slowing down, some are enlarging purchases. Natural tendency of the market,’’ was all he said.
The effort now was to insulate third countries from affecting bilateral trade. He said that because of sanctions on Russian oil companies, sectors of Russia’s oil production were being affected. But Moscow was finding ways not to let volumes of trade go down. "For a brief time, there can be a drop in oil trade." We consider these sanctions illegal from the view of international law,” the Kremlin spokesman said.
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Russia and China are in the forefront of the effort to create an alternative to international trade in dollars. Peskov said that in recent times, "the share of the American dollar was reducing’’ and the share of national currencies was increasing. However despite his claim, the US dollar continues to rule international trade.
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