Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that India, China and Brazil could mediate in potential peace talks over Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Putin said a preliminary agreement reached between negotiators of Russia, Ukraine during the talks held in Istanbul, which was never implemented, could serve as the basis for talks. The two nations held talks in Istanbul during the first few weeks of war in 2022.
Notably, Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a conflict since February 2022. India has called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict.
Earlier on August 23, PM Modi visited Ukraine, first by an Indian PM to the European nation. During the bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, PM Modi emphasised India's position of peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.
"India was never neutral, we have always been on the side of peace," PM Modi told Zelenskyy. He said that India was ready to play an active role in the path to peace and progress.
During PM Modi's visit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed confidence that India had a role to bring peace to the conflict ridden region.
Speaking to ANI, in Kyiv, the Ukrainian President said, "India will play its role. I think that India began to recognise that this is not just conflict, this is real war of one man and his name is Putin against whole country whose name is Ukraine. You are a big country. You have a big influence and you can stop Putin and halt his economy, and put him really in his place."
Earlier in July, PM Modi visited Russia and held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was PM Modi's first visit to Russia since the war started between Moscow and Kyiv in 2022.
During his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July, PM Modi said that there is no solution on the battlefield and added that peace talks do not succeed amid bombs, guns and bullets.
During his talks with Putin, PM Modi said, "As a friend, I have always said that for the bright future of our coming generations, peace is of utmost importance. But I also know that solutions are not possible on battlegrounds. Amid bombs, guns and bullets, solutions and peace talks do not succeed. We will have to follow the path to peace only through talks."
During his meeting with Putin, PM Modi said that everyone who believes in humanity is pained when there is a loss of lives. He further stated that it is "heart-wrenching" when innocent children are dying.
PM Modi had said, "Be it war, conflicts, terror attacks - everyone who believes in humanity is pained when there is loss of lives. But when innocent children are murdered, when we see innocent children dying, it is heartbreaking. That pain is immense. I also held a detailed discussion with you over this."
(ANI)