Top Putin aide to lead Russian delegation for AI Summit in India

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s senior aide Maxim Oreshkin will lead a large delegation for the AI Impact Summit being held in New Delhi from Monday.
India is set to host the AI Impact Summit 2026, a high-profile gathering of global leaders and industry heavyweights in Artificial Intelligence from February 16-20 at New Delhi’s ‘Bharat Mandapam,’ bringing together policymakers, industry leaders and technology innovators.
Oreshkin, who is deputy chief of the Kremlin staff and economic aide to President Putin, is set to lead the Russian delegation to the India AI Impact Summit 2026. This (choice of sending Oreshkin) highlights a strategic push for AI collaboration between the two nations, a Kremlin source told PTI, adding, the delegation will focus on secure, trusted, and sovereign AI, with active engagement in discussions on AI governance, technology, and partnerships within BRICS and other platforms.
In an interview to BRICS TV Network on February 9, Russian Foreign Minister Segei Lavrov noted: “India also emphasises ICT security, which we actively support, contributing to the agenda. This is significant, as norms regulating AI use between states, and AI applications by individual states, are only now being established.”
Lavrov said these norms will regulate behaviours that affect security. “Some countries are actively introducing AI into military applications. While each state has the right to determine its own approach, certain countries are already attempting to centralise control, subordinating what states can and may do with AI in the military sphere,” he said.
BRICS members will not accept infringements on their sovereignty, yet transparency remains crucial, the minister added.
In an article published by state-run news agency TASS on Friday, India’s Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar outlined the promising prospects for India–Russia cooperation in the field of Artificial Intelligence, highlighting the growing strategic and technological partnership between the two nations.
The synergy between Moscow and New Delhi in AI would act as a catalyst for shared growth and technological advancement of the two strategic partners, Ambassador Kumar said.