Russia FM Lavrov at UNGA - Putin to visit India in december

At the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit New Delhi in December 2025, further underlining the depth and continuity of India - Russia ties. Lavrov’s announcement came alongside a reflection on the partners’ past engagements, noting that the last time Putin visited India was on December 6, 2021, when he came to New Delhi for the India-Russia Annual Summit and held a brief four-hour engagement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Lavrov emphasized that this planned visit is part of an “extensive bilateral agenda” covering sectors from trade, military-technical cooperation, energy, finance and healthcare to high technology and AI. He used the UNGA platform to stress that India’s decisions on whom it trades with, especially relating to energy supplies, are India’s alone, not ones to be dictated by external actors. He made it clear that despite pressures, including from the United States, India has full sovereign capacity to choose its partners.

Lavrov also asserted that nothing undermines India - Russia economic cooperation, that such relations are not under threat, and that external dynamics (like U.S. policies) should not be seen as determining factors in the bilateral relationship. He praised the statements of India’s leadership affirming this sovereign approach, including those by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

On the multilateral front, Lavrov reiterated Russia’s support for India’s bid to be a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, arguing that the UNSC needs reform to reflect changes in global balance, especially giving more voice to Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He also spoke of strengthened collaboration within SCO, BRICS, and other international bodies as central to this vision.

Beyond India-Russia ties, Lavrov used UNGA to clarify Russia’s broader stance: that it does not intend to attack Europe or NATO countries, while warning that any aggression toward Russia would elicit a decisive response; that dialogue remains possible and important; and that differences, especially over Ukraine and NATO expansion, should be managed without allowing them to escalate into open confrontation.

By linking the upcoming December trip to the last one in December 2021, Lavrov and the Russian side framed the planned visit not just as another diplomatic stop, but as a re-affirmation of continuity in a time of growing global complexity. The announcement underscores Moscow’s intent to reset, or at least resume, in person high-level engagement after the Ukraine war, while reinforcing the narrative of India’s autonomous, balanced foreign policy.