Putin calls PM Modi, shares impressions of Alaska meeting with Trump

Moscow/New Delhi — Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to share his assessment of last week’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska.

Prime Minister Modi thanked Putin for the call and for sharing his insights. “India has consistently called for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict and supports all efforts in this regard. I look forward to our continued exchanges in the days to come,” Modi posted on X after the conversation.

The leaders discussed several areas of bilateral cooperation with the aim of further strengthening the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia, and agreed to stay in close touch.

India on Saturday welcomed the summit in Alaska between Trump and Putin, calling their leadership in pursuing peace “highly commendable” and saying the way forward must be through dialogue and diplomacy. A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs added that the world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine.

Putin and Trump met at the Arctic Warrior Convention Centre in the early hours of Saturday, India time. Russian officials including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, and US representatives including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, also took part in the talks. Both leaders said they had made progress during the three-hour meeting but did not announce an immediate ceasefire. “It's not a done deal at all,” Trump told Fox News afterward, adding that Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky must agree.

Earlier this month, on August 8, Putin had also phoned Modi to brief him on related developments and discussions. The Kremlin said the two leaders exchanged views on key bilateral matters, including trade, economy and investment, and reiterated India’s support for a political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukraine situation.

Looking ahead, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on August 21 in Moscow, when Jaishankar will attend the 26th meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation. The ministers are expected to discuss pressing bilateral issues and matters of international cooperation.

With inputs from IANS