Moscow/New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday dialled Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sharing his assessment of his last week’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska.
PM Modi reiterated India’s consistent position for a peaceful resolution of the conflict and New Delhi’s support for all efforts in this regard.
“Thank my friend, President Putin, for his phone call and for sharing insights on his recent meeting with President Trump in Alaska. India has consistently called for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict and supports all efforts in this regard. I look forward to our continued exchanges in the days to come,” Prime Minister Modi posted on X after the phone call.
The two leaders also touched upon a number of issues of bilateral cooperation with a view to further strengthen the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia and agreed to remain in close touch.
India on Saturday welcomed the Summit meeting in Alaska between the US President and his Russian counterpart stating that their leadership in the pursuit of peace is highly commendable.
“India welcomes the Summit meeting in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Their leadership in the pursuit of peace is highly commendable. India appreciates the progress made in the Summit. The way forward can only be through dialogue and diplomacy. The world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine,” read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Putin and Trump held talks at the Arctic Warrior Convention Centre in the early hours of Saturday, India time. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff also participated in the meeting.
Both leaders said that they made progress in three hours of talks, moving closer to finding an end to the Ukraine War, but did not announce an immediate ceasefire.
“It’s not a done deal at all”, Trump told a Fox News interviewer after Friday’s summit in Alaska. “And Ukraine has to agree. President [Volodymyr] Zelensky has to agree.”
On August 8, Putin had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to brief him about the related developments and upcoming discussions.
“In light of the special privileged partnership between Russia and India, Vladimir Putin shared the key outcomes of his meeting with US President’s Special Envoy Steven Witkoff, held on August 6 in Moscow. The Prime Minister thanked the President of Russia for the information and confirmed India’s unwavering stance in favour of settling the situation surrounding Ukraine via political and diplomatic means. In addition, Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi exchanged views on key bilateral issues, including cooperation in trade, economy, and investment,” read a statement issued by the Kremlin after Putin’s phone call with PM Modi.
On August 21, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold talks with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, who will be in Moscow on an official visit to participate in the 26th meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, and Cultural Cooperation.
“The ministers will discuss pressing bilateral issues and urgent matters concerning interaction on international venues,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stated ahead of the visit.
–IANS
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