Putin questions US pressure on India’s Russian oil purchases as Modi gives the Russian president a warm welcome.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has questioned Washington’s stance on India’s oil purchases from Moscow, pointing to US imports of Russian nuclear fuel as he began a state visit aimed at strengthening ties between the two nations.
Putin arrived in New Delhi on Thursday evening to a warm airport reception from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who embraced the Russian leader in a rare gesture that underscored their personal rapport.
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The visit comes as India faces mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has imposed punitive tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi’s purchases of discounted Russian crude.
In an interview with Indian broadcasters before his arrival, Putin questioned the logic behind Washington’s criticism.
“The United States itself still buys nuclear fuel from us for its own nuclear power plants,” he said, adding that if the US has the right to buy Russian fuel, India should enjoy “the same privilege”.
Modi posted on social media that he was “delighted to welcome my friend, President Putin to India,” calling their relationship “a time tested one that has greatly benefitted our people”.
After embracing on the tarmac, the two drove together to a private dinner at Modi’s residence.
Delighted to welcome my friend, President Putin to India. Looking forward to our interactions later this evening and tomorrow. India-Russia friendship is a time tested one that has greatly benefitted our people.@KremlinRussia_E pic.twitter.com/L7IORzRfV9
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 4, 2025
Al Jazeera’s Neha Poonia, reporting from New Delhi, said the reception sent a clear message.
“Experts say that the warm reception for President Putin [shows] that he is not a pariah, that there are countries that will accept him despite pressure from western nations,” over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she said, adding that Modi wanted to signal “he won’t give into pressure from Donald Trump.”
Putin defended the energy relationship, telling Indian media that cooperation with India “remains unaffected by political swings or the tragic events in Ukraine”.
He accused unnamed actors of seeking to “constrain India for political reasons” due to its growing international role.
The visit highlights India’s delicate balancing act between Moscow and Washington. India’s oil imports from Russia surged from just 2.5 percent of total crude purchases before 2022 to nearly 36 percent currently, making it the world’s second-largest buyer of Russian oil.
🇷🇺🇮🇳 President Vladimir #Putin has arrived in India for a two-day state visit.
The Russian leader received a warm personal welcome from Prime Minister @narendramodi.#DruzhbaDosti pic.twitter.com/jUeufbIdCv
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) December 4, 2025
Indian refiners have saved approximately $12.20 per barrel by purchasing discounted Russian crude.
However, Trump has imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods in retaliation, and recent US sanctions on major Russian oil producers have begun forcing Indian refiners to reduce purchases.
Reliance, India’s largest private refiner, has already announced it will stop exporting petroleum products made from Russian crude.
On Friday, Putin and Modi are expected to hold formal summit talks and announce agreements spanning defence cooperation, shipping, healthcare and labour mobility.
Russia is pushing to sell India additional S-400 missile defence systems and Su-57 stealth fighter jets, while both sides aim to reach $100bn in bilateral trade by 2030, though the target now appears distant as oil imports decline.
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![Russian Memorial human rights NGO labeled ‘extremist’Russia’s Supreme Court announced on Telegram on April 9 that the activities of human rights organization Memorial were now banned throughout the country. This came after a closed-door hearing that was treated as “top secret.” Media representatives and diplomats from Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic and France were only allowed to attend the announcement of the ruling, which sparked strong reactions internationally.
The Nobel Committee, which awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to Memorial, condemned the court’s decision. The European Union delegation to Russia described the ruling as a “politically motivated blow to civil society in Russia.” The diplomats pointed out that the Russian state itself had “not only officially recognized Memorial’s merits but also provided direct support, and members of the organization served on the Human Rights Council for many years.”The Supreme Court hearing took place behind closed doorsImage: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo/picture alliance
Russian Supreme Court keeps wording deliberately vague
Lawyers for Memorial pointed out that the Supreme Court had classified the “International Public Movement Memorial” as “extremist,” but they pointed out that no organization of this name existed and had not been registered either in Russia or elsewhere.
They told DW that the wording had probably been kept deliberately vague to create a legal basis for potential repression against any Memorial structures, as well as their members and supporters. “The Justice Ministry’s action itself remained secret, and the organization’s representatives were barred from attending the hearing,” Sergei Davidis, the head of Memorial’s political prisoners support program, told DW.
He also stressed that in light of growing public dissatisfaction with the Russian government, the state was attempting to eliminate independent and reputable sources of information that could foster solidarity and networking in Russian society.
Memorial documents Soviet repression and the Gulag system
The international society Memorial was founded in 1987 and went on to become the leading independent organization dedicated to documenting Soviet-era repression in Russia. Its archives contain tens of thousands of documents about the victims of Soviet repression, including thousands of memoirs, hundreds of personal collections, as well as a wealth of material from researchers on the history of the gulags, the system of labor camps that was a major instrument of political repression in the Soviet era, and other human rights violations.
According to the independent online media outlet Mediazona, the authorities could now lay claim to the archive as the “property of an extremist organization.” In 2023, the head of the Perm NGO Center of Historical Memory, Aleksandr Chernyshov, was arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle archival documents from Russia to Germany.
The persecution of the Russian branch of Memorial began in 2014 when it was placed on a list of “foreign agents” by the Russian Justice Ministry. This status was later extended to the organization’s international branch, which required all publications and reports to be labeled accordingly. In case of non-compliance, there were fines and restrictions on Memorial’s activities.
In 2021, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Memorial International for “repeated” and “gross” violations of Russia’s foreign agent laws. Memorial was also accused of depicting a false image of the Soviet Union.
Pressure continued to mount in March 2023, when the homes and offices of nine Memorial staff members, including Oleg Orlov and Yan Rachinsky, were subjected to searches as part of a targeted campaign against independent human rights organizations. The same year, Orlov was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for “discrediting” the army. He was released with other political prisoners as part of a prisoner exchange in August 2024 and has since been living in Germany.
Memorial will continue its human rights activities
Since this year’s ruling on April 9, Memorial has announced that it will have to suspend all activities in Russia but will continue its activities abroad. It has blocked the sharing and commenting of posts on social media. All supporters in Russia have been urged to follow the safety guidelines published on Memorial’s website.
Although the court has used the term “international social movement” to describe Memorial and this does not actually exist as such, all people, associations and organizations associated with the NGO could now be at risk. Memorial has called on people in Russia to not make any donations, to remove any logos and links on social media, and to delete any compromising content on all digital devices. It warned that people could draw attention from law enforcement agencies even by subscribing to Memorial channels.
It also said that though the risks outside Russia were not as high, people could still be subject to persecution abroad. Nonetheless, it said it would continue its work to protect human rights and preserve historical memory. Politzek — voices that defy the KremlinTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Nobel Committee: ‘Affront to fundamental values of human dignity’
Earlier this week, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Jorgen Watne Frydnes said that to designate Memorial as “extremist” was “an affront to the fundamental values of human dignity and freedom of expression.”
On his Telegram channel, the Russian political scientist Aleksandr Kynev wrote that the persecution of Memorial marked a new level of repression in Russia. He added that the new status of the organization would allow the authorities to target even ordinary employees.
Davidis pointed out that Memorial did not have a unified, centralized structure, but constituted a broad network of different groups. He said that people continued to be interested in political repression, both in the past and today. He said that the work of human rights activists had to continue despite the more difficult and risky circumstances.
Russian government strategy to suppress memory of Soviet crimes
According to Irina Sherbakova, a co-founding member of Memorial, the latest move against the organization is part of the Russian government’s overall strategy. She explained that it was in keeping with the closure of the Moscow-based Gulag History Museum in 2024, the systematic removal of commemorative plaques installed by the Last Address memorial project, the restrictions on access to official archives and the amendment to the official concept for commemorating victims of political repression, from which the mention of mass repression and later mass rehabilitation has been removed.Irina Sherbakova co-founded Memorial. She now lives in GermanyImage: dts-Agentur/picture alliance
Sherbakova said that these measures were all aimed at controlling the collective memory of Soviet repression and human rights work today: “This is part of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s ideology, which is becoming increasingly ultranationalist.”
Human rights activist Anna Karetnikova agreed, and pointed out that the initiative to persecute Memorial went back to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which succeeded the Soviet secret service, the KGB, itself preceded by the NKVD. She said that the FSB viewed Memorial’s efforts to preserve the memory of Soviet repression and support of political prisoners today as a thorn in its side. She said that Memorial’s new status would lay the path for more criminal proceedings and increase pressure on civil society.
This article was originally published in Russian.
What’s really behind ‘foreign agent’ laws? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
#Russian #Memorial #human #rights #NGO #labeled #extremist](https://i1.wp.com/static.dw.com/image/76090686_6.jpg?ssl=1 "Russian Memorial human rights NGO labeled ‘extremist’Russia’s Supreme Court announced on Telegram on April 9 that the activities of human rights organization Memorial were now banned throughout the country. This came after a closed-door hearing that was treated as “top secret.” Media representatives and diplomats from Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic and France were only allowed to attend the announcement of the ruling, which sparked strong reactions internationally.
The Nobel Committee, which awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to Memorial, condemned the court’s decision. The European Union delegation to Russia described the ruling as a “politically motivated blow to civil society in Russia.” The diplomats pointed out that the Russian state itself had “not only officially recognized Memorial’s merits but also provided direct support, and members of the organization served on the Human Rights Council for many years.”The Supreme Court hearing took place behind closed doorsImage: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo/picture alliance
Russian Supreme Court keeps wording deliberately vague
Lawyers for Memorial pointed out that the Supreme Court had classified the “International Public Movement Memorial” as “extremist,” but they pointed out that no organization of this name existed and had not been registered either in Russia or elsewhere.
They told DW that the wording had probably been kept deliberately vague to create a legal basis for potential repression against any Memorial structures, as well as their members and supporters. “The Justice Ministry’s action itself remained secret, and the organization’s representatives were barred from attending the hearing,” Sergei Davidis, the head of Memorial’s political prisoners support program, told DW.
He also stressed that in light of growing public dissatisfaction with the Russian government, the state was attempting to eliminate independent and reputable sources of information that could foster solidarity and networking in Russian society.
Memorial documents Soviet repression and the Gulag system
The international society Memorial was founded in 1987 and went on to become the leading independent organization dedicated to documenting Soviet-era repression in Russia. Its archives contain tens of thousands of documents about the victims of Soviet repression, including thousands of memoirs, hundreds of personal collections, as well as a wealth of material from researchers on the history of the gulags, the system of labor camps that was a major instrument of political repression in the Soviet era, and other human rights violations.
According to the independent online media outlet Mediazona, the authorities could now lay claim to the archive as the “property of an extremist organization.” In 2023, the head of the Perm NGO Center of Historical Memory, Aleksandr Chernyshov, was arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle archival documents from Russia to Germany.
The persecution of the Russian branch of Memorial began in 2014 when it was placed on a list of “foreign agents” by the Russian Justice Ministry. This status was later extended to the organization’s international branch, which required all publications and reports to be labeled accordingly. In case of non-compliance, there were fines and restrictions on Memorial’s activities.
In 2021, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Memorial International for “repeated” and “gross” violations of Russia’s foreign agent laws. Memorial was also accused of depicting a false image of the Soviet Union.
Pressure continued to mount in March 2023, when the homes and offices of nine Memorial staff members, including Oleg Orlov and Yan Rachinsky, were subjected to searches as part of a targeted campaign against independent human rights organizations. The same year, Orlov was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for “discrediting” the army. He was released with other political prisoners as part of a prisoner exchange in August 2024 and has since been living in Germany.
Memorial will continue its human rights activities
Since this year’s ruling on April 9, Memorial has announced that it will have to suspend all activities in Russia but will continue its activities abroad. It has blocked the sharing and commenting of posts on social media. All supporters in Russia have been urged to follow the safety guidelines published on Memorial’s website.
Although the court has used the term “international social movement” to describe Memorial and this does not actually exist as such, all people, associations and organizations associated with the NGO could now be at risk. Memorial has called on people in Russia to not make any donations, to remove any logos and links on social media, and to delete any compromising content on all digital devices. It warned that people could draw attention from law enforcement agencies even by subscribing to Memorial channels.
It also said that though the risks outside Russia were not as high, people could still be subject to persecution abroad. Nonetheless, it said it would continue its work to protect human rights and preserve historical memory. Politzek — voices that defy the KremlinTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Nobel Committee: ‘Affront to fundamental values of human dignity’
Earlier this week, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Jorgen Watne Frydnes said that to designate Memorial as “extremist” was “an affront to the fundamental values of human dignity and freedom of expression.”
On his Telegram channel, the Russian political scientist Aleksandr Kynev wrote that the persecution of Memorial marked a new level of repression in Russia. He added that the new status of the organization would allow the authorities to target even ordinary employees.
Davidis pointed out that Memorial did not have a unified, centralized structure, but constituted a broad network of different groups. He said that people continued to be interested in political repression, both in the past and today. He said that the work of human rights activists had to continue despite the more difficult and risky circumstances.
Russian government strategy to suppress memory of Soviet crimes
According to Irina Sherbakova, a co-founding member of Memorial, the latest move against the organization is part of the Russian government’s overall strategy. She explained that it was in keeping with the closure of the Moscow-based Gulag History Museum in 2024, the systematic removal of commemorative plaques installed by the Last Address memorial project, the restrictions on access to official archives and the amendment to the official concept for commemorating victims of political repression, from which the mention of mass repression and later mass rehabilitation has been removed.Irina Sherbakova co-founded Memorial. She now lives in GermanyImage: dts-Agentur/picture alliance
Sherbakova said that these measures were all aimed at controlling the collective memory of Soviet repression and human rights work today: “This is part of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s ideology, which is becoming increasingly ultranationalist.”
Human rights activist Anna Karetnikova agreed, and pointed out that the initiative to persecute Memorial went back to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which succeeded the Soviet secret service, the KGB, itself preceded by the NKVD. She said that the FSB viewed Memorial’s efforts to preserve the memory of Soviet repression and support of political prisoners today as a thorn in its side. She said that Memorial’s new status would lay the path for more criminal proceedings and increase pressure on civil society.
This article was originally published in Russian.
What’s really behind ‘foreign agent’ laws? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
#Russian #Memorial #human #rights #NGO #labeled #extremist")
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