Putin Pledges Continued Fuel Supply to India Amid U.S. Pressure
new Delhi – Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed Russia‘s commitment to providing “uninterrupted” fuel supplies to India during a visit to India, despite repeated calls from former U.S.President Donald Trump for New Delhi to cease its purchases of Russian oil. The pledge underscores a deepening energy partnership between the two nations, even as India navigates a complex geopolitical landscape and Western pressure.
The visit, occurring amid heightened tensions between India and Washington over India’s continued reliance on Russian energy, highlights India’s strategic need for affordable energy resources. Chinese media outlets are closely following the developments, noting the difficulty India faces in severing energy ties with Russia given its crucial supply needs. Experts cited by China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency concur that such a severance is “challenging.”
According to the Global Times, Li Haidong of China Foreign Affairs University stated that the visit demonstrates “extensive mutual support and strong complementarity” between Russia and India, and that “sanctions and pressure from the US and the West” are “unlikely to succeed.” Fudan University’s Lin Minwang, writing in the Chinese communist Party-linked Guancha news and commentary website, described Russia as a “strategic safety net” for India’s foreign policy, while acknowledging uncertainty regarding the future extent of the Indo-Russian relationship.
Lin Minwang further noted the symbolic importance of Putin’s visit, emphasizing Russia’s pursuit of high-level engagement with india since 2022, even as delhi maintained a relatively low profile regarding interactions with Moscow. The visit took place on December 4, 2025.
