Putin Meets S Jaishankar, Invites PM To Russia, Seeks Ukraine Solution

New Delhi:

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Wednesday and held talks over a range of issues, including the war in Ukraine.

Mr Putin invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Russia next year.

“We will be glad to see our friend, Mr Prime Minister Modi, in Russia,” Mr Putin told Mr Jaishankar, who is on a five-day official visit to the country.

Mr Jaishankar also met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov earlier on Wednesday.

The Russian President said he knows PM Modi is willing to do his outmost to resolve the Ukraine crisis peacefully. Mr Putin said Russia is willing to share information with India on how the Ukraine crisis can be resolved peacefully.

“Many times I advised him (PM Modi) on how things are going there (Ukraine) and I know he is willing to do his utmost so that the issue is resolved by peaceful means. So we will delve into that deeper now and we will give additional information to you,” Mr Putin said during the meeting with Mr Jaishankar.

Honoured to call on President Vladimir Putin this evening. Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi and handed over a personal message.

Apprised President Putin of my discussions with Ministers Manturov and Lavrov. Appreciated his guidance on the further developments of… pic.twitter.com/iuC944fYHq

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) December 27, 2023

During a joint media appearance along with Mr Lavrov after their talks, Mr Jaishankar said he was confident that PM Modi and Mr Putin would meet for an annual summit next year. In his opening remarks earlier, Mr Jaishankar said that the two leaders have been in frequent contact.

The summit between PM Modi and Mr Putin is the highest institutional dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between the two sides. So far, 21 annual summits have taken place alternatively in India and Russia. The last summit took place in Delhi in December 2021.

Mr Putin said the trade turnover between Russia and India is growing, particularly on account of crude oil and high technology areas.

“Our trade turnover is growing, for the second year in a row at the same time and at a steady pace. The growth rate this year is even higher than in the last year,” the Russian President said.

On Tuesday, Mr Jaishankar held a “comprehensive and productive” meeting with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on the bilateral economic cooperation during which they saw the signing of some “very important” agreements related to the construction of future power-generating units of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.

The ties between India and Russia remained strong notwithstanding Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.

India’s import of Russian crude oil has gone up significantly despite increasing disquiet over it in many Western countries.

With inputs from PTI