Putin to Visit India for First Time Since Start of Ukraine War

Addis Ababa, April 3, 2025 (ENA)—Sources from Russia have confirmed that President Vladimir Putin will visit India in first trip since the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

New Delhi will be among the few capitals to host the Russian president since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him, it was indicated.

On March 28, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that President Putin would be visiting India.

“Russian President Putin has accepted the invitation of the head of the Indian government,” Lavrov said, adding that preparations for the India visit were underway.

Lavrov praises the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “consistently” taking a “balanced position on the Ukrainian crisis” and for advocating its “resolution through dialogue.”
The visit is part of a protocol between India and Russia for reciprocal annual visits by their leaders.

 However, once the Ukraine war began, the visits stopped, and resumed only in July last year when Modi travelled to Moscow with the message that “a solution cannot be found on the battlefield”.

Lavrov said, “I would like to separately express my gratitude… for the fact that India, and personally Prime Minister Modi, consistently take a balanced position on the Ukrainian crisis and advocate its resolution through dialogue and the elimination of the root causes of this conflict.”

He said Russia “fully shares this approach and from the very beginning of the crisis, we have been talking about Russia’s openness to negotiations, which should lead to the end of the conflict and the establishment of a lasting peace by eliminating its root causes”.

Putin last visited India for such a summit in December 2021—weeks before the start in February 2022 of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

And the Indian Prime Minister visited Russia in July last year  2024, after being re-elected for a third five-year term.