US urges India to use its relationship with Russia to help end the war in Ukraine

The US said it “privately and directly” raised its concerns over India’s relationship with Russia as Narendra Modi met Vladimir Putin with bonhomie amid international outrage over Moscow’s deadly missile strike on a children’s hospital in Ukraine.

The White House urged India to use its long-standing relationship with Moscow to persuade the Kremlin leader to end his “brutal war” in Ukraine.

Mr Modi travelled to Russia on 8-9 July for his first bilateral visit to the country since the start of its war on Ukraine. India under Mr Modi’s leadership has taken a neutral stance in the Ukraine war while increasing energy trade with Russia.

The West, which has tried to squeeze Moscow economically and isolate it on the world stage, witnessed the two leaders’ growing bonhomie as they shared a hug and expressed praise for each other.

On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said they expressed their views directly with New Delhi but privately.

“We have been quite clear about our concerns about India’s relationship with Russia. We have expressed those privately, directly to the Indian Government and continue to do so, and that hasn’t changed,” Mr Miller said.

“We have had conversations with them in the past 24 hours, and I think I’ll keep the contents of those private.”

In a separate White House briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that “India is a strategic partner with whom we engage in full and frank dialogue, including their relationship with Russia”.

“And so, we also believe India’s long-standing relationship with Russia gives it the ability to urge the – the president – President Putin to end his brutal war – an unprovoked war in Ukraine.”

The Kremlin on Wednesday said there were no disagreements between Mr Modi and Mr Putin even as Mr Modi delivered an implicit rebuke for death of innocent children in Ukraine.

The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters a decision to cancel a session of talks between Russian and Indian delegations was taken for scheduling reasons and because the entire agenda had been covered.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with any disagreements or problematic situations,” he said.

During his direct formal talks with the Kremlin leader, Mr Modi made veiled criticism of Russia’s latest missile bombardment of civilians in Ukraine that has killed at least 42 people throughout the country.

He called on his “friend” Mr Putin to seek a peaceful end to the war and the Russian president thanked Modi for “trying” to find ways to resolve the conflict.

“Loss of life leads to despair especially when children are killed,” Mr Modi told the Russian president in televised comments Tuesday. “Resolution can’t be found on the battlefield, peace needs to be pursued through dialog and diplomacy.”

The two leaders signed a joint communique that included a goal to reach $100bn in bilateral trade by 2030 – up from nearly $65bn last year.

Mr Modi and Mr Putin also agreed to continue to work together to promote a bilateral settlement system using national currencies and eliminating the non-tariff and tariff barriers in trade.

The trade between Russia and India increased by 66 per cent last year, Mr Putin said, as Western countries have hit Russia with sanctions to squeeze Russia’s economy and its ability to strike Ukraine.

The shift of focus on economic issues from military and defence supplies has come as procurement of defence supplies have dwindled and faced delays in recent years in the wake of the war, analysts have said.

Russia’s state-owned Rosatom and India “are in talks to construct six high-power nuclear power units as part of a new project as well as developing low-power nuclear plants in India,” according to the Russian embassy in New Delhi.

Mr Modi also said that India will open two news consulates, one in Kazan and another in Yekaterinburg.

Mr Putin concluded the summit by conferring Russia’s highest civilian honour, the Order of St Andrew the Apostle, to Mr Modi.

The ceremony recognised the Indian prime minister’s “exceptional” contributions in advancing the strategic partnership between Russia and India.