New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone conversation on Friday (August 8) reiterated their commitment to the bilateral relationship, the Indian government said, two days after Washington threatened to double its tariff on India to 50% as a penalty for buying oil from Moscow even as it continues its invasion of Ukraine.Putin, whom Modi invited to visit India, also briefed the prime minister on the “latest developments” surrounding the Ukraine war, New Delhi said as the Trump administration’s deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Kyiv is set to expire, failing which US President Donald Trump said he would impose punitive tariffs on Moscow as well as secondary tariffs on countries buying its oil.According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Putin on Friday briefed Modi “on the latest developments concerning Ukraine”, to which the prime minister expressed his thanks and “reiterated India’s consistent position for peaceful resolution of the conflict”.The Kremlin said in its readout that Putin told Modi about the “main results” of his meeting with US special envoy to Russia Steve Witkoff on Wednesday.The two leaders reiterated their commitment to deepening their countries’ “special and privileged strategic partnership”, while Modi invited Putin to visit India later this year for the annual Indo-Russian summit, the MEA said.National security adviser Ajit Doval, who had travelled to Moscow earlier this week, said yesterday that Putin would likely visit India by the end of this year for the summit.Modi and Putin’s conversation takes place against the backdrop of Trump announcing a penalty tariff of 25% on top of an identical ‘reciprocal’ levy in response to India’s steady purchases of Russian oil.In announcing the increased tariff on India – which is scheduled to kick in on August 28 – Trump capped off his salvo against New Delhi, which has included calling the Indian economy “dead” akin to Russia’s.The MEA responded to the hiked tariff by calling it “extremely unfortunate”, “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.Moscow had said that it considers Washington’s “threats” and “attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia” to “not … be legal”.“We believe that sovereign countries should have and do have the right to choose their own trading partners,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said as quoted by Reuters.Trump’s deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine could end today, but Putin has reportedly said that he could meet Trump possibly within the next week.The US president had earlier threatened a 100% secondary tariff on countries buying Russian crude oil if Moscow did not meet his deadline. He has said however that Putin would not need to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in order to secure a meeting with him.Meanwhile, Putin on Friday also spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping over the phone, and he has spoken with the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as well, per the Kremlin.Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, India has emerged as a top buyer of Russian oil, which now accounts for almost 40% of New Delhi’s overall oil imports.India is also Russia’s second-largest oil buyer after China.