The Russian President and the Indian Prime Minister discussed the possibility of a settlement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the possibility of reaching a settlement in Ukraine over the phone on Tuesday.
According to a statement on his website, Modi briefed Putin on his visit to Kiev last Friday and stressed his interest in resolving the conflict through political and diplomatic means. The Kremlin released information that the Russian leader presented his principled position on the “destructive line” of the Kiev authorities and their Western sponsors.
The two leaders also expressed satisfaction with the cooperation between the two countries within the BRICS group. Modi confirmed his intention to attend the group's summit in Kazan next October.
At a joint press conference in Moscow on Tuesday, following his meeting with his Yemeni counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that if the West is interested in normalizing the situation in Europe, it should sit down at the negotiating table and be “honest.” “Without the ‘Zelensky formula’ that formulates ultimatums against Russia, dialogue is necessary,” he said. Moscow, he said, would not “bite” the peace conference that would be held on the Ukrainian president’s terms.
“The West is discouraging Ukraine from holding normal negotiations – on the basis of humane and generally accepted principles. And it is doing everything to ensure that Ukraine continues to escalate (.) In the hope – now doubts about this have become stronger – that we will lose self-doubt, we will judge and we will do something that will allow the West, as they hope, to change the chessboard.”
“This will not work. We will achieve our goals, as President Vladimir Putin said, in accordance with our interests, firstly by saving our people and secondly by protecting people whom the fascist regime in Kiev has labeled as terrorists, who have been arrested and deprived of their basic rights, including the right to religion, religious practice, language and much more, and that is why we cannot be provoked,” he added.
He reiterated that the West is playing with fire in considering whether to meet Ukraine's request for long-range weapons. He believed that Western countries are only pretending that they do not want escalation.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, predicted that the consequences of US participation in the attack on the Kursk region would be much more serious than what has been witnessed so far. The diplomat described US participation in the invasion of Ukraine as a fact.
Ryabkov declared that “the path of escalation pursued by Washington has become more difficult.”
