New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “appreciated the continuing direct dialogue” between Russia and Ukraine and called for an “immediate cessation of violence”.
Modi spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday and discussed the “evolving situation” in the country.
He told Zelensky, India has “always stood for a peaceful resolution of issues and direct dialogue between the two parties”. This was Modi’s second chat with Zelensky since the Russian offensive started on 24 February.
The Indian leader also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the afternoon and was informed about the “negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian teams”.
In a tweet on Monday, Zelensky reiterated that India was committed to “direct peaceful dialogue at the highest level”.
Modi also asked Putin to evacuate students from Sumy at the earliest. Government sources said that Putin had assured the Indian Prime Minister of all possible cooperation.
The call lasted 50 minutes.
India has evacuated over 15,000 citizens from Ukraine, mostly students. A few hundreds are still holed up in a medical college hostel in Sumy.
The Indian Embassy on Sunday asked these students to leave on short notice. Indian officials have set up base in Poltava, nearly three hours from Sumy, to monitor the rescue.
Russia has declared a ceasefire from 10 am Monday in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy to facilitate the evacuation of citizens. Humanitarian corridors would be formed to safely rescue those trapped in these cities.
A Kremlin statement said Russian forces “were doing everything possible to preserve the lives and guarantee the security of civilians, precision strikes are targeting exclusively the facilities of military infrastructure”.
In his latest address to the Ukrainian people, President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to punish anyone who “committed atrocities in this war in our land”. Zelensky said “we will not forget, we will not forgive” the perpetrators. “There will be no quiet place on this Earth except the grave.”
Also read: Russia declares ceasefire in 4 Ukraine cities to evacuate trapped citizens