India welcomes Trump-Putin meeting, says world wants early end to Ukraine conflict

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) Insisting that the world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine, India on Saturday welcomed the Summit meeting in Alaska between the US President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia stating that their leadership in the pursuit of peace is highly commendable.

"India welcomes the Summit meeting in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Their leadership in the pursuit of peace is highly commendable. India appreciates the progress made in the Summit. The way forward can only be through dialogue and diplomacy. The world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine," read a statement issued by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

Putin and Trump held talks at the Arctic Warrior Convention Centre in the early hours of Saturday, India time. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff also participated in the meeting.

Both leaders said that they made progress in three hours of talks, moving closer to finding an end to the Ukraine War, but did not announce an immediate ceasefire.

"It's not a done deal at all”, Trump told a Fox News interviewer after Friday's summit in Alaska. "And Ukraine has to agree. President [Volodymyr] Zelensky has to agree."

"We had a very good meeting today, and I think a lot of points were negotiated on behalf of Ukraine”, he said.

On August 9, India had welcomed the summit between the United States President and his Russian counterpart in Alaska.

"India welcomes the understanding reached between the United States and the Russian Federation for a meeting in Alaska on 15th August 2025. This meeting holds the promise of bringing to an end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and opening up the prospects for peace. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said on several occasions, ‘This is not an era of war’, said Jaiswal.

New Delhi, the MEA statement mentioned, endorses the upcoming Summit meeting and "stands ready" to support these efforts.

On August 8, Putin had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to brief him about the related developments and upcoming discussions.

"In light of the special privileged partnership between Russia and India, Vladimir Putin shared the key outcomes of his meeting with US President's Special Envoy Steven Witkoff, held on August 6 in Moscow. The Prime Minister thanked the President of Russia for the information and confirmed India's unwavering stance in favour of settling the situation surrounding Ukraine via political and diplomatic means. In addition, Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi exchanged views on key bilateral issues, including cooperation in trade, economy, and investment," read a statement issued by the Kremlin after Putin's phone call with PM Modi.

--IANS

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