Western countries need to shed their colonial mindset when dealing with the Asian giants, the Russian president has said

The West should not treat India and China like colonies, nor use an aggressive tone when dealing with the Asian giants, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the Russian press in Beijing after attending the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War on Wednesday, Putin said India and China have faced significant challenges, including colonialism and prolonged attacks on their sovereignty.

"Events in Ukraine are being used merely as a pretext for resolving economic issues with some countries whose economic ties and advantages do not suit someone," Putin said in a response to a question on the European Union preparing its 19th round of sanctions on Russia and threatening Moscow's partners. 

"Countries like India - almost 1.5 billion people, and China - 1.3 billion people, boast powerful economies and live by their own domestic political laws," Putin said. "You know, when people from the outside say, 'We are going to make things hard for you and punish you...' How are the leaders of these countries - large economic powerhouses which have lived through very rough periods in their history, periods of colonialism and attacks on their sovereignty over a long historical period - supposed to react to that?" 

The Russian president said that if Asian leaders went soft, their political careers would be over, "just as in the colonial era." He added, "Talking to such partners in such a tone of voice is unacceptable." 

The US has imposed 50% tariffs on India, 25% of which are for New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil. The South Asian nation has been repeatedly criticized by top US officials for the purchases, with Donald Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro calling it the Kremlin's "laundromat." 

Putin expressed his belief that everything will fall into place and "return to normal economic dialogue in the end."

When asked what he and Narendra Modi had talked about in the Russian leader's Aurus limousine after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin on Monday, Putin said he had briefed the Indian prime minister on his recent talks with Trump in Alaska.