Putin attempts to shore up energy exports to China in call to Xi as India ‘agrees’ to stop buying Russian oil

Vladimir Putin held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping via video link on Wednesday, the Kremlin announced, just days after US President Donald Trump claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying Russian oil.

During the meeting, Putin described relations between Moscow and Beijing as “an important stabilising factor” in the “international situation” and called the energy partnership between the two countries “mutually beneficial and truly strategic”.

The meeting followed Trump’s announcement on Monday that India would stop buying Russian oil in return for a reduction in US tariffs on Indian imports to the United States, including the removal of an additional 25% penalty tariff imposed over India’s energy cooperation with Moscow.

Modi subsequently described the trade agreement as a “wonderful announcement” in a post on X, but made no mention of any commitment he’d made for India to stop purchasing oil from Russia.

Indian refiners are reportedly awaiting formal government guidance, with analysts pointing to practical challenges in replacing Russian crude oil. June Goh, an analyst at Sparta Commodities, said US oil grades such as WTI are “simply too light” to serve as a direct replacement for Russia’s Urals blend.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said on Wednesday that Russia continued to rank first among China’s suppliers of oil and pipeline gas, state-owned Russian news agency TASS reported. Estimates suggest that China has purchased more than $230 billion worth of Russian energy since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Putin acknowledged a “slight decline” in overall trade between Russia and China last year, describing it as a correction in indicators, but said that the two countries would continue to coordinate closely across a range of issues.