Jaishankar To Visit Moscow For Key Talks With Lavrov And Putin Amid US Tariff Over Russian Oil

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to travel to Moscow next week for a two-day official visit, where he will hold wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. He is likely to call on President Vladimir Putin, officials familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

According to PTI, the trip follows National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s recent meetings in Moscow with Putin and senior Russian officials, and comes at a time when India’s ties with the United States are under some strain over New Delhi’s continued procurement of Russian crude oil.

According to Russian foreign ministry deputy spokesperson Aleksey Fadeyev, the foreign ministers will discuss “the most important issues of the bilateral agenda.” Jaishankar is also expected to co-chair the 26th session of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic, Scientific-Technological and Cultural Cooperation alongside First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov.

Preparations for Putin’s planned visit to India later this year along with reviewing trade, economic, cultural, and technological cooperation. India’s energy imports from Russia are expected to be high on the agenda, as reported by PTI.

The visit comes days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, raising the overall duty to 50 per cent, as a penalty for India’s continued purchase of Russian oil. 

India began increasing its intake of discounted Russian crude following Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia’s share of India’s total oil imports has since jumped from just 1.7 per cent in 2019–20 to 35.1 per cent in 2024–25, making it India’s top supplier.

The Ukraine conflict is expected to feature in the Moscow talks. India has consistently called for resolving the war through dialogue and diplomacy, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi having conveyed to both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the conflict cannot be resolved on the battlefield and should be ended without delay.

During his visits to Moscow in July last year and to Kyiv the following month, Modi emphasised the urgency of direct talks between the two sides to secure peace.

Jaishankar’s upcoming trip is seen as part of an ongoing high-level engagement aimed at balancing India’s strategic ties with Russia while navigating geopolitical frictions with the West.