New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed India’s support for a peaceful settlement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, during a conversation Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The call between the two leaders comes amidst US’ pressure on India to stop purchasing Russian oil.
“I conveyed India’s consistent position on the need for an early and peaceful resolution of the conflict. India remains committed to making every possible contribution in this regard, as well as to further strengthening bilateral ties with Ukraine,” Modi said in a post on social media platform X.
According to the Indian readout of the call, the two leaders also reviewed the “progress” of bilateral ties. The call comes ahead of a summit in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on 15 August.
The two presidents are set to negotiate a settlement to pause the ongoing war started by Moscow against Kyiv in February 2022. The almost four-year conflict has Moscow sidelined by Western leaders, with the Trump-Putin summit to be the first between leaders of the two countries since 2021.
“We also discussed in detail the sanctions against Russia. I noted that it is necessary to limit the export of Russian energy, particularly oil, to reduce its potential and ability to finance the continuation of this war. It is important that every leader who has tangible leverage over Russia sends the corresponding signals to Moscow,” the Ukrainian president said in a post on X.
“It is important that every leader who has tangible leverage over Russia sends the corresponding signals to Moscow.”
The two leaders also discussed a potential meeting on the margins of the United Nations meeting in New York City next month and a potential bilateral visit. Modi was expected to meet Zelenskyy at the G7 summit held in Canada a couple of months ago. However, the meeting had to be postponed.
India is the second largest importer of Russian oil in the world after China. In the 2024-2025 financial year, India imported roughly $56 billion worth of oil from Russia. New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil has grown during the war, from worth around $7 billion prior to 2022 to worth over $50 billion for the last two years running.
India’s purchase of Russian oil increased as the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US, and the European Union) imposed a price cap, limiting Moscow’s cost per barrel of oil to below $60. The system was designed to prevent shocks to the global energy markets while minimising Russian revenue from crude sale.
In recent weeks, Trump took aim at New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. On 6 August, the American President announced the imposition of 25 per cent additional tariffs on goods imported to the US from India, which is set to take effect at the end of this month.
This “penalty” tariff is above an already existing tariff rate of 25 per cent, that came into effect on 7 August. India and the US spent months negotiating a mini-trade deal after the American president first announced his reciprocal tariff policy on 2 April. However, negotiations broke down over the US’ push for greater market access to India’s agricultural and dairy sector.
New Delhi has been willing to make certain concessions to the US in these two sectors, however, the two sides are yet to find a workable solution. Trump further called India a “dead economy” as his ire at the stalled negotiations grew.
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US push for direct talks
Similarly, the American President grew frustrated over the pace of negotiations for a ceasefire deal between Moscow and Kyiv. On the campaign trail last year, Trump had promised to end the war within 24 hours of taking over as the president.
However, almost eight months into his second term, the US has been unable to move Russia and Ukraine towards a ceasefire deal. The Alaska summit between Trump and Putin is a part of the US President’s latest push to find a solution to the conflict. However, Ukraine has pre-emptively rejected any deal that would require it to cede territory to Russia.
Moscow has sought to annex the provinces within the Donbass region including Donetsk and Luhansk, apart from staking claim to Zaporhizhia and Kherson. Russia has been in control of Crimea since 2014, another province it annexed from Ukraine.
Zelenskyy has been on a diplomatic blitz, holding calls with a number of leaders in the last few days to shore up support for Ukraine’s position. The European countries, including France, Germany and the UK, have come out in support of Kyiv, urging any solution to the conflict to include Ukraine at the table.
However, the Kremlin believes that there is not enough on the table yet for a direct meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)