Photo: ALEXANDR DEMYANCHUK/SPUTNIK / AFP / Getty Images
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that this is no time for war.
Openly and publicly challenged by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia will strive to stop the conflict “as soon as possible”, according to The Washington Post.
But then he accused Ukraine of refusing to negotiate, although Putin ordered the invasion and his troops continue to occupy a large swath of Ukrainian territory .
Putin made the remarks during an appearance with Modi in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where they are attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
In In a surprising public rebuke, Modi told Putin: “Today’s era is not an era of war, and I have talked to you on the phone about this.”
The rare reproduction I have shown that the president of Russia is under extraordinary pressure from all sides because of the war in Ukraine.
Internationally, Putin faces calls to end the war not only from his traditional critics in the West, but also from Asian partners.
And in Russia, where he has cracked down against anti-war dissidents, is being pummeled by right-wing hawks who are furious at the military’s missteps and are calling for a national draft.
The Modi’s comment, as the two leaders faced reporters and cameras, came a day after Putin acknowledged he had heard “concerns and questions” about the war from Chinese President Xi Jinping at the same conference. But the president of China did not publicly express his questions or concerns.
Xi and Modi’s questions and criticisms follow a week in which Russia has suffered heavy military setbacks in Ukraine.
A Ukrainian counteroffensive drove Russian troops out of the northeastern region of Kharkiv.
And Kyiv is forging ahead, asking allies to supply additional weapons in hopes of tipping the war decisively in its favor.
The Russian military has responded by attacking civilian infrastructure, including the power grid in the Kharkiv region,
leaving dozens of settlements without electricity or running water. Putin called these attacks “a warning”.
“If the situation continues to develop in this way, the response will be more serious,” Putin threatened in comments made to Russian journalists later on Friday.
India has called for dialogue since the beginning of the war, avoiding challenging Russia as an aggressor, and its officials insist that their country is a middle power and needs to maintain ties and credibility with both Russia and the West to help achieve peace.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky declared on Saturday that Peace talks are “impossible” at the moment. “We want to end the war, but space and opportunities have changed. Society does not want to talk to terrorists”, he said.
With information from The Washington Post and The New York Times
It may interest you:
– “There are indications of torture”: the mass graves “with more than 400 bodies” found in liberated zones of Ukraine
– The United States announced a new package of $600 million aid to Ukraine
– Russia warns the US will be drawn into the war if it provides Ukraine with more missiles, while Putin meets with China and Iran