The EU’s former foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has been accused of fraud as part of an EU investigation into the misuse of funds, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has said.
The EPPO said searches were carried out on Tuesday at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, headed by Ms Mogherini, as well as the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels – the office she ran for five years as the bloc’s top diplomat.
The investigation relates to EU-funded training for junior diplomats, the EPPO said.
As well as Ms Mogherini, a senior College of Europe staff member and a senior official from the European Commission were detained, the prosecutor’s office added.
According to the EPPO, the three were formally told of the allegations against them: “the accusations concern procurement fraud and corruption, conflict of interest and violation of professional secrecy.”
The three accused were all subsequently released as they were not considered a flight risk and their homes were also searched.
After a reported 10 hours of questioning, Ms Mogherini issued a statement saying she had “clarified my position with the investigators”, adding that, “in its long tradition, the College has always applied and will continue to apply the highest standards of integrity and fairness”.
“I have full confidence in the justice system, and I trust that the correctness of the College’s actions will be ascertained. I will obviously continue to offer my full collaboration to the authorities,” she said.
Under Belgian law, a person can be arrested then released without being charged, while remaining a suspect.
The EPPO said the investigation focused on a tender that the EEAS awarded to the College of Europe in 2021-2022.
The EPPO, which investigates alleged crimes against the financial interests of the EU, did not name the three people questioned but said the immunity of several suspects had been lifted as part of the investigation.
The College of Europe is an independent school attended by aspiring EU civil servants. It is closely associated with and partly funded by the EU.
How do you get 400,000 employees at one of the world’s most storied blue chip tech companies to adopt design thinking as a tool to transform the culture of its workforce?
When entrepreneur Phil Gilbert was brought intoIBM, which in 2010 had acquired his Lombardi Software, he was convinced that his days were numbered. Tasked with teaching Big Blue how to grow as fast as his business software processing company did, he felt out of place: “I pretty much knew that I was a square peg in a round hole,” he says.
Speaking at Fortune Brainstorm Design in Macau on Tuesday, Gilbert noted ruefully that businesses typically enlist him “when some effort is failing”. IBM wanted him to replicate the secret sauce that made his Austin-based Lombardi so agile and its products so beloved by customers.
The reinvention required a radical approach. In 2012, appointed as the company’s general manager of design, Gilbert brought design thinking to IBM’s entire employee base. His first barrier? How to get “400,000 people to do something when none of them report to you,” he recalls.
His answer wasn’t to follow the usual corporate top-down mandate methods, but to treat the change program as a product, IBM as a marketplace, and teams as customers. Instead of using a technology-first approach, he focused on empathy and user outcomes.
And, breaking from corporate operational tradition, he also allowed employees to opt-in rather than be forced to participate. “It gives them agency and having agency makes all the difference,” he told the audience.
Design thinking became an organizing principle at IBM, putting the customer at the center. The company went on to hire over 1,000 designers to embed into cross-functional teams with engineers and developers. Results included faster product launches, better alignments of project teams and accelerated product development cycles.
Northwestern Mutual
Fellow panelist Tony Bynum saw at his employer Northwestern Mutual the need for a center of excellence to represent a “single source of truth”. He founded the company’s Design Thinking Center of Excellence in 2020, after realizing that his small team that was interacting with other groups was using different languages, methods, and tools.
The “aha” moment for Bynum came with the idea about shifting away from outputs to outcomes. Using traditional methods was akin to the old fable of a group of blind men getting a different understanding of what an elephant was by touching different parts. “We’re all touching the same elephant and every person’s perspective has merit and value in reconstructing the elephant,” Bynum said.
Fortune
Bynum, now the director of Chicago-based Institute for Design’s new ID Academy, argued that “dexterity” is the key attribute that leaders need to succeed amid ambiguity and complexity. He described this as “using design-led capabilities to become ambidextrous, meaning you can perform and transform”
A successful leader in a culture of change requires “humility, bar none”, as a critical attitude, Bynum said.
Gilbert concurred with Bynum that humility is the “new name” to use in driving culture change. “We need humility first with ourselves, and then with our users.”
Kees van der Hoeven, CEO and President of Universal Music Benelux, will retire from his role at the end of the year, the company has announced.
Van der Hoeven led UMG’s business in the Netherlands for over 25 years, and has been in charge of the company’s wider Benelux operations since 2013. He oversaw chart successes with artists including Dutch rock band Kensington, singer-songwriter IlseDeLange, DJ and record producer Tiësto, and more.
During his tenure, he helped establish partnerships with Dutch hip-hop label TopNotch/Noah’s Ark, as well as NRGY. He worked alongside international recording artists such as LadyGaga, LionelRichie and Sting throughout his career at Universal.
FrankBriegmann, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Central Europe and DeutscheGrammophon, will assume management of his responsibilities “until further announcement,” the UMG unit said.
“I want to thank Frank for his support during all these years and of course to all my colleagues in the Benelux, Central Europe and globally. It’s been a great ride.”
Commenting on his departure, van der Hoeven said: “First of all, a heartfelt thank you to all the fantastic artists who I’ve had the pleasure to work with. You are the heart and soul of our company and it has been an absolute joy.
“I want to thank Frank for his support during all these years and of course to all my colleagues in the Benelux, Central Europe and globally. It’s been a great ride.”
Briegmann said: “We have been carefully planning Kees’ well-deserved transition into retirement for some time now and I hold immense respect for his integrity and expertise. Kees successfully led the UMG business in the Netherlands for over 25 years.”
Peter Rigaud
“We have been carefully planning Kees’ well-deserved transition into retirement for some time now and I hold immense respect for his integrity and expertise.”
FrankBriegmann, Universal Music Group
He added: “Since 2013 he has managed all Benelux entities with a mixture of thoughtfulness and exceptional leadership and a great deal of expertise.
“Our work relationship has been built on a foundation of trust and mutual respect and his legacy will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact and will continue to inspire us. I am wishing Kees all the very best for his next phase in life.”
The executive change marks the latest across the wider Universal Music Group. In June, MattEllisassumed the role of Chief Financial Officer. In May, activist investor BillAckmanresigned from the board of UMG, two months after non-executive director ManningDoherty also stepped down from the board.
Elsewhere at UMG, the music giant recently struck deals with AI companies, including Udio, which it previously sued over copyright infringement, and Los Angeles-based music technology company KLAY Vision Inc.
In Q3 2025, UMG reported a 10.2% YoY jump in overall revenue to €3.021 billion ($3.53bn), while adjusted EBITDA weighed in at €664 million ($775m) – a margin of 22%.
Israel has identified the body it received via the Red Cross on Wednesday as 43-year-old Thai agricultural worker, Suthisak Rintalak, according to the prime minister’s office.
Rintalak was one of the last two deceased hostages still in Gaza. The body of the last remaining hostage, Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old Israeli police officer, remains in Gaza.
Israel received the coffin carrying Rintalak after the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) military wing said it had found a hostage’s body in northern Gaza.
The handover came hours after the Israeli prime minister’s office said tests showed another set of remains received from Hamas on Tuesday did not belong to either of the dead hostages.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they informed Rintalak’s family of the news and expressed their “deep condolences”.
They added that they will continue to push for the return of the body of Gvili, urging Hamas to “make the necessary efforts” to return him to his family.
Israeli officials are coordinating with the Thai embassy in Israel for Rintalak’s remains to be returned to Thailand, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
Israeli and Thai authorities say both hostages were killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 and that their bodies were then taken to Gaza.
Under the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire deal, which took effect on 10 October, Hamas agreed to return the 20 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of the 28 dead Israeli and foreign hostages still in Gaza within 72 hours.
All the living hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.
So far, the remains of 23 dead Israeli hostages have been handed over, along with those of four foreign hostages – two of them Thai, one Nepalese and one Tanzanian.
In exchange, Israel has handed over the bodies of 345 Palestinians killed during the war.
Israel has accused Hamas of deliberately delaying the recovery of the hostages’ bodies, while Hamas has insisted it is struggling to find them under rubble.
The slow progress has meant there has been no advance on the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. This includes plans for the governance of Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the disarmament of Hamas and reconstruction.
The dead hostage still in Gaza was among the 251 people abducted by Hamas and its allies on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 other people were killed.
Israel responded to the attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 70,100 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
After skipping a week to digest from American Thanksgiving, we are back with the NCAA digest and boy, do we have a lot to get to. The first week of midseason invites hit hard as swimmers around the country and across divisions set the pool on fire. We have seen this pattern the past couple of seasons as the NCAA gets faster and teams evolve the arc of a season, but it’s still sometimes hard to believe these times are getting thrown down in November rather than March.
It would be impossible to distill all the action from the first week of invites into one digest so we are breaking things up. This recap will hit on the swims that you definitely didn’t miss and we will have a separate article up for the swims that might have flown under your radar, similar to the “Swims You May Have Missed” articles we do for major meets.
If you follow college swimming, it’s a pretty safe bet that you didn’t miss the week junior Will Modglinhad at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite. The Longhorn got his weekend started with a 20.00 50 backstroke leading off the 200 medley relay. The swim makes him the fastest 50 backstroker in history and put him a fingernail from becoming the first swimmer to crack 20 seconds in the race.
Other Top Ten Relay Splits From Week One Of Midseason Invites
Torri Huske: 45.49, 100 freestyle – 9th fastest all-time (Texas Hall of Fame Invite)
Torri Huske: 21.88, 50 butterfly – 7th fastest all-time (Texas Hall of Fame Invite)
Torri Huske: 48.59, 100 butterfly – 5th fastest all-time (Texas Hall of Fame Invite)
Anita Bottazzo: 56.38, 100 breaststroke – tie 8th fastest all-time (2025 UGA Fall Invite)
Modglin’s weekend was far from finished though. Later, he broke the American record in the 100 backstroke with a 43.26, overtaking Luca Urlando’s mark from the 2022 NCAA Championships. Modglin is now the third-fastest man in 100-yard backstroke history, six-hundredths back of teammate Hubert Kos’ NCAA record (43.20) and four-hundredths behind the second-fastest man, Florida’s Jonny Marshall(43.22). Both Kos and Marshall swam their bests at the 2025 NCAA Championships, setting up for a thrilling three-way race between the trio in March. Kos has not raced in the NCAA yet this season, but is expected back on the Texas roster for the spring.
Modglin was also a part of another American record, leading off the Texas men’s 400 medley relay that knocked exactly a second off the former record. Modglin (43.78) teamed with Nate Germonprez(49.91 breaststroke), Garrett Gould (45.31 butterfly), and Camden Taylor (41.34 freestyle) to erase NC State’s mark from the 2025 NCAA Championships with a 3:00.34.
NCAA Division Records Go Down
An NCAA record went down in each division during the first weekend of midseason. It was Urlando who took down the Division I record, racing his now signature 200 butterfly. Urlando missed some early dual meets for the Georgia Bulldogs but showed fine form at the Georgia Fall Invite, treating the home crowd to a 1:36.41 200 butterfly. The time shaves two-hundredths off the record he swam at the 2025 NCAA Championships to claim his first individual NCAA title.
Urlando showed that he was not messing around during prelims when he clocked 1:37.86. Including his new record, that swim ranks as the 7th fastest in event history, giving Urlando six of the top 10 times.
In Division II, Agata Naskret, now swimming for West Florida after beginning her career at Colorado Mesa, broke her own DII NCAA record in the 100 backstroke at the Delta State Thanksgiving Invite. She swam 51.26, improving the 51.52 mark set at last season’s DII NCAA Championships. It’s her 4th career 100 back DII NCAA record, as she broke the mark three times last season. This time last year, she swam 51.96 to take over the mark and become the first DII swimmer sub-52 seconds.
Like Naskret, NYU’s Kaley McIntyrecontinues to push Division III swimming into new territory. The 2025 CSCAA DIII Swimmer of the Year reset her 100 freestyle DIII NCAA record at the Phoenix Fall Classic; she swam 48.13, shattering the 48.53 mark she set to win last season’s DIII national title in the event. McIntyre is one of only two DIII women to break 49-seconds in the 100 freestyle—Kendra Stern is the next-fastest in DIII history with a 48.98 from the 2010 NCAA Championships.
More Highlights From Around The Midseason Invites
Women’s 100 Freestyle At The Texas Hall of Fame Invite
While swims from Modglin and other Texas swimmers like Germonprez, Baylor Nelson, and Will Scholtzhighlighted the men’s racing in Austin, the women’s side of the meet was also speedy. Olympic champion Torri Huskeput together an excellent meet, which she capped by winning a thrilling 100 freestyle against Texas’ Eva Okaroand USC’s Minna Abraham. Huske swam a 46.15 to win, just off her lifetime best 46.01. Okaro touched second in 46.61, swimming a new personal best and school record as she continues to make a quick transition to yards. Abraham swam 47.01, only six-hundredths off her lifetime best 46.95 after becoming the 7th fastest woman in the 200 freestyle (1:40.47). Coupled with Anna Moesch’s 100/200 freestyle antics at the CSCAA Dual Meet Tournament, the 100 freestyle is shaping up to be one of the “can’t miss races” at the 2026 Women’s NCAA Championships.
Huske’s Other Swims:
50 freestyle: 21.01
100 butterfly: 48.90
49, 100 freestyle split – 9th fastest all-time
88, 50 butterfly split – 7th fastest all-time
59, 100 butterfly split – 5th fastest all-time
71, 50 freestyle split
1:41.22, 200 freestyle split
Hoosiers Pop Off At Ohio State
Indiana and Ohio State football play for the season’s Big Ten title this Saturday, but the Hoosier swim team has already taken care of business in Buckeye territory. The team excelled at the Ohio State Fall Invitational a year after graduating NCAA champions Anna Peplowskiand Jassen Yep.
The Hoosiers started marking headlines when Miranda Granaopened the meet with a school record in the 100 butterfly, breaking 50 seconds in 49.98. She’s the first Hoosier woman to break 50-seconds in the event and made her the 13th woman all-time to clear that barrier.
Anna Moesch Climbs The Ranks In The 100/200 Freestyle
Earlier this season, we talked about how there’s a women’s 200 freestyle renaissance on this season, taking over after two seasons of the 500 freestyle rapidly picking up speed. Virginia sophomore Anna Moeschwas a key player in making this the fastest fall for the women’s 200 freestyle that we’ve seen, leading a group of seven women who had broken 1:43 before November.
Well, once the calendars turned to November, Moesch continued to push the boat out in both the 200 and 100 freestyle. She moved into the top-five all-time in both events, establishing herself as one of the driving forces behind a five-time defending NCAA championship Virginia team that’s building a new identity in the post-Walsh sisters’ era.
During the Cavaliers’ duel against Michigan on Saturday morning of the CSCAA Dual Meet Tournament (which they went on to win) Moesch won the 100 and 200 freestyle, throwing down blistering times of 45.98/1:40.25.
Moesch now ranks #5 in the 100 freestyle, slotting ahead of Huske’s 46.01 lifetime best as she becomes the fifth woman to break 46 seconds in the 100 freestyle. She’s also now the third Cavalier in the top five, joining NCAA record holder Gretchen Walsh (44.71) and #4 Kate Douglass (45.86).
She’s now fourth in the 200 freestyle with her 1:40.25, moving ahead of Olympic legend Katie Ledecky (1:40.36). Her best time last season was a 1:42.39, meaning she’s already taken over two seconds off her personal record this season.
Quick Hits
Change of heart – the NCAA rescinds the rule it put forth in October that would have allowed student athletes and staff to bet on professional sports.
The Sun Devil sprint group is firing on all cylinders – five men went sub-19 seconds in the 50 freestyle on night one of the Tennessee Invite, led by Kharun’s 18.41. The other four: Tommy Palmer(18.90), Adam Chaney(18.92), Tolu Young(18.96), Remi Fabiani (18.98). Note that the list does not include Jonny Kulow, whose cleared that mark many times before, meaning we could see this list expand to six sub-19 swimmers at the same meet during the postseason. Similarly, the Texas men had four swimmers break 51 seconds in the 100 breaststroke, with Germonprez posting the fastest mid-season time in history.
Vitamin C may offer meaningful protection against one of the world’s invisible but pervasive health threats – fine-particle air pollution. New research has found that the common antioxidant can significantly reduce the lung inflammation and cellular damage caused by everyday, low-level exposure to PM2.5.
Scientists from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research investigated the effect of vitamin C on lung inflammation and mitochondrial loss triggered by airborne particulate matter (PM) 2.5, the fine-particle air pollution common to urban environments. PM2.5 in outdoor air comes largely from the combustion of gas, oil and diesel, as well as burning wood. Wildfires and dust storms can also cause spikes in the pollution – two events often associated with adverse respiratory issues.
PM2.5 exposure contributes to a suite of health conditions including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis and even lung cancer. And protection from these fine particles is challenging, given that they’re part of the air we breathe.
The scientists used a two-pronged approach in their investigation, testing vitamin C’s antioxidant properties on mice and in cell cultures, and found it was able to reduce the negative health effects of low-level PM2.5 exposure.
First, the scientists demonstrated that even at modest levels, PM2.5 triggers an increase in inflammatory cells, elevated cytokines such as IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-17, and a rise in oxidative stress. In mice, mitochondria – the cellular structures most sensitive to pollution-driven damage – became swollen, fragmented and overactive in generating reactive oxygen species. Human lung cells behaved similarly, with reduced viability, higher oxidative stress and the activation of inflammatory pathways associated with chronic respiratory disease.
But in both mice and human cells, vitamin C reduced nearly every effect – inflammatory markers declined, antioxidant enzymes such as SOD2 and GPX4 recovered and mitochondrial structure and function were protected. Interestingly, the supplement stabilized mitochondria, preventing the cascade of oxidative damage that PM2.5 triggers.
“For the first time we are providing hope for a low-cost preventative treatment to a global issue affecting hundreds of millions of people,” said Brian Oliver, a professor in the School of Life Sciences at UTS. “We know now that there is no safe level of air pollution, which causes inflammation in the lungs and leads to myriad respiratory diseases and chronic illnesses, especially in the case of bush fires.”
The dose used in mice corresponded to roughly a gram, or 1,000 mg/day, in humans, which is higher than the recommended daily requirements of around 75 mg/day for women and 90 mg/day for men. However, the safety threshold is considered to be 2,000 mg/day, and many supplements come in 500-mg and 1,000-mg forms. Nonetheless, there’s no shortage of foods that offer quality vitamin C (and other nutrients).
The researchers, however, caution against upping vitamin C doses without speaking to your healthcare professional first. While overdose is rare, taking too much can cause unpleasant gastrointestinal side effects, and people with certain health conditions may face other, more serious risks.
“This study suggests that taking the highest permitted dose of vitamin C for you would potentially help, but you would need to speak with your GP to make sure you’re taking the right kind of supplement at the right levels and don’t accidentally overdose on something else included in an over-the-counter supplement.”
While the results are promising, they’re also preliminary, and more research – including human clinical trials – will be needed to confirm efficacy and safety.
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New Delhi, India – Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting India starting Thursday for the first time since Moscow’s war on Ukraine broke out more than four years ago, even as a renewed push by the United States to end the conflict appears to have stalled.
Putin’s 30-hour speed trip also coincides with a tense turn in relations between Washington and New Delhi, with the US also punishing India with tariffs and a sanctions threat for its strong historic ties with Russia and a surge in its purchase of Russian crude during the Ukraine war.
That tension has, in turn, made India’s longstanding balancing act between Russia and the West an even more delicate tightrope walk.
Since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, India has tried to avoid getting locked into formal alliances with any superpower, leading the non-aligned movement during the Cold War, even though in reality it drifted closer to the Soviet Union from the 1960s. Since the end of the Cold War, it has deepened strategic and military ties with the US while trying to keep its friendship with Russia afloat.
Yet, Russia’s war on Ukraine has challenged that balance – and Putin’s visit could offer signs of how Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to juggle New Delhi’s competing relationships without sacrificing any of them.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence near Moscow, Russia, July 8, 2024 [Sergei Bobylyov/Sputnik/Pool via Reuters]
What’s scheduled for Putin?
Putin is expected to land on Thursday evening and head for a private dinner with Modi at the prime minister’s residence in the heart of the Indian capital, New Delhi.
On the morning of Friday, December 5, Putin is scheduled to visit Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace, for a guard of honour and a meeting with India’s ceremonial head of state, Droupadi Murmu. He will then, like all visiting leaders, travel to Raj Ghat, the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi.
Then, Putin and Modi will meet at Hyderabad House, a complex that hosts most leadership summits for the latest chapter of an annual India-Russia summit. After that, they are scheduled to meet business leaders, before attending a banquet thrown in Putin’s honour by Murmu, the Indian president.
Earlier, the Kremlin said in a statement that Putin’s visit to India was “of great importance, providing an opportunity to comprehensively discuss the extensive agenda of Russian-Indian relations as a particularly privileged strategic partnership”.
Putin will be joined by Andrei Belousov, his defence minister, and a wide-ranging delegation from business and industry, including top executives of Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, and reportedly the heads of sanctioned oil firms Rosneft and Gazprom Neft.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greet each other before their meeting in New Delhi, India, on December 6, 2021. That was Putin’s last visit to India before the trip that starts on Thursday [Manish Swarup/AP Photo]
Why is the timing of the visit significant?
The visit comes as India and Russia mark 25 years of a strategic partnership that began in Putin’s first year in office as his country’s head of state.
But even though India and Russia like to portray their relationship as an example of a friendship that has remained steady amid shifting geopolitical currents, their ties haven’t been immune to pressures from other nations.
Since 2000, New Delhi and Moscow have had in place a system of annual summits: The Indian prime minister would visit Russia one year, and the Russian president would pay a return visit to India the following year.
That tradition, however, was broken in 2022, the year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Modi was supposed to visit Russia for the summit, but the conclave was put off.
In 2023, Putin skipped a visit to India for the G20 summit in New Delhi. At the time, Putin was rarely travelling abroad, largely because of an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant against him related to the Ukraine war. India is not a member of the ICC – and so it would have been safe for Putin to attend, but Western members of the G20 made it clear that their leaders would be uncomfortable sharing the room with the Russian president.
Finally, in 2024, the annual summit resumed, with Modi visiting Russia. And now, Putin will land in New Delhi after four years.
A Russian S-400 anti-missile system launcher moves along Tverskaya Street towards Red Square ahead of a Victory Day parade rehearsal in Moscow, Russia, April 29, 2025. India used S-400 systems during its May air war with Pakistan [Pavel Bednyakov/AP Photo]
What’s on the agenda?
Trade analysts and political experts expect Putin to push for India to buy more Russian missile systems and fighter jets, in a bid to boost defence ties and explore more areas to expand trade, including pharmaceuticals, machinery and agricultural products.
The summit “offers an opportunity for both sides to reaffirm their special relationship amidst intense pressure on India from [US] President [Donald] Trump with punitive tariffs,” Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst for India at Crisis Group, a US-based think tank, told Al Jazeera.
Putin, analysts said, will be seeking optical dividends from the summit.
“President Putin can send a very strong message to his own people, and also to the international community, that Russia is not isolated in the world,” said Rajan Kumar, a professor of international studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.
“Russia is being welcomed by a democracy when Putin faces pressure for the war in Ukraine,” Kumar told Al Jazeera.
But visuals aside, a key driver of the India-Russia relationship – oil trade – is now at risk. And that, along with the shadow of the man responsible for the disruption, will be hovering over talks, said experts.
President Donald Trump greets Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, August 15, 2025 [Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo]
Is Trump an overshadowing factor in the summit?
India became the second-largest buyer of Russian crude after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022 – an increase of a staggering 2,250 percent in imports, as Russia’s share in its imports went from 1 percent to 40 percent.
The US at the time quietly encouraged India to buy more Russian oil, New Delhi says. The West was stopping purchases of Russian crude, and a complete global ban on that oil would have shrunk global supplies, raising prices. India, by increasing its uptake of Russian oil, helped stabilise the global market.
But as Trump, in his second term, has looked for levers to use to pressure Moscow and Kyiv to end the war, he has targeted India for buying Russian oil. After initially imposing 25 percent tariffs on Indian goods, Trump doubled that to 50 percent as a penalty for Russian crude purchases.
For months after that, India continued importing Russian oil and defended what it called its “strategic autonomy”.
However, in October, Trump imposed sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil firms – Rosneft and Lukoil – and threatened sanctions against firms of other countries that trade with them.
Reliance, India’s largest private oil refiner – and the biggest buyer of Russian oil in India – has since said that it will no longer export petroleum products that use Russian crude.
Indian imports of Russian crude are expected to fall to a three-year low now. Meanwhile, India recently signed a deal to dramatically ramp up its import of gas from the US.
In the defence sector too, the US has been pressuring India to buy more from it and less from Russia.
“New Delhi is wary of upsetting Washington regarding its defence deals with Moscow, but that’s not going to deter it from making important deals,” said Donthi, the analyst at Crisis Group. “India hopes to blunt US criticism by making similar deals with it, some of which are already under way.”
But Trump’s pressure risks hurting goodwill for the US in India.
Kanwal Sibal, former Indian foreign secretary and an ex-ambassador to Russia, said Trump and the US were employing “double standards”.
“Trump can roll out a red carpet for Putin in Alaska. Why should India not build on its ties with Russia then?” he added, referring to the Trump-Putin summit in August.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025 [Vladimir Smirnov/Sputnik/Pool via Reuters]
In which sector are India-Russia ties strong?
While the bilateral energy ties between India and Russia face several barriers, their defence ties are steadier.
Russia remains India’s largest defence supplier, accounting for roughly 36 percent of arms imports, and more than 60 percent of India’s existing arsenal.
Import numbers have come down from 72 percent in 2010, as India attempts to boost domestic production and also buy more from the US and European nations. But experts say that Russia’s position as India’s pre-eminent defence partner will likely remain unchallenged for several years.
The Russian S-400 missile defence system was central to India’s air defences during its four-day air war with Pakistan in May. India’s air force chief, Marshal AP Singh, said that “the S-400 was a game changer” for India.
New Delhi is now looking to buy additional S-400 air defence systems. Russia, meanwhile, wants to also sell India its Su-57 fifth-generation stealth fighter jets. “The SU-57 is the best plane in the world,” said Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, ahead of the summit. “And it will be on the agenda.”
What are India-Russia trade prospects?
India-Russia trade has undergone a major shift since 2022, ballooning from a modest $10bn to a record nearly $69bn this year, primarily fuelled by New Delhi’s appetite for discounted Russian crude oil.
However, these numbers remain lopsided: Indian exports, largely pharmaceuticals and machinery, stand at roughly $5bn, resulting in a widening $64bn trade deficit. And Russia’s exports to India have been dominated by oil over the past three years. With trade now expected to fall, so will overall numbers, caution experts. The India-Russia goal of reaching $100bn in trade by 2030 appears distant.
Instead, analysts told Al Jazeera, the two countries now appear to be betting on labour migration as a driver of people-to-people and economic ties.
According to the estimates of the Russian Ministry of Labour, by 2030, the country is expected to see a shortfall of 3.1 million workers. Indian workers could fill that gap.
“Russia is opening up its labour market for India and looking to change its traditional supplier of labour from Central Asian countries to India,” said Kumar, the professor of international studies. “This kind of migration can have a positive impact on India-Russia relations.”
That won’t change the fundamental tension that undergirds India’s ties with Russia: New Delhi’s keenness to not damage relations with the US in the process.
As India simultaneously negotiates trade deals with the US, the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, an economic bloc led by Russia at the moment, New Delhi is walking a fine line “where it risks antagonising either of them, who are all important economic trade partners,” said Kumar.
The one thing that could help: a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, say analysts.
