NEW DELHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit India soon, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said on Thursday. The visit is expected to take place by the end of 2025, Reuters reported citing Interfax news agency.This comes amid Donald Trump administration’s stringent tariff actions against India over its continued Russian oil purchases.Earlier, Russia criticised Trump’s actions backing India’s “right to choose” its own trading partners.“Sovereign countries have the right to choose their own trading partners,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said, further criticising calls to “force countries to sever trading relations” with Russia as “illegitimate”.Also Read | US-Russia talks: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet next week; Kremlin silent on Ukraine trilateralTrump has also warned of secondary sanctions on “a couple of others,” hinting that China could be next, after imposing additional 25% tariffs on India. “It may happen. I don’t know, I can’t tell you yet. But we did it with India. We are probably doing it with a couple of others, one of them could be China,” he said. China and India are the two big buyers of Russian oil.Meanwhile, Trump and Putin are likely to meet as soon as next week, a pivotal moment, as Trump ramps up pressure on Russia with his tariff campaign while pushing for an end to the war in Ukraine.
