PM Modi Speaks To Russian President Putin, Urges Him To Hold Direct Talks With Zelensky

Prime minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian president Vladimir Putin on Monday. People familiar with the developments told CNNNews18 that the phone call between both leaders lasted for more than 50 minutes. Earlier, PM Modi spoke to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. PM Modi urged Vladimir Putin to speak directly to Ukrainian president Zelensky even as delegations from both sides began their third round of discussion to cease hostilities between both nations.

PM Modi earlier while speaking to Zelensky appreciated that both sides have appointed delegations to hold talks in an attempt to stop hostilities following Russia’s declaration in late February that it will launch a so-called ‘military operation’ in Ukraine. Since the last 10 days, hostilities have surged with Russian and Ukrainian forces facing each other in fierce battles across Ukraine’s several cities. According to the UN, at least 1.5 million Ukrainians have fled the war.

The delegations are currently meeting for the third round of talks in Belarus. Sputnik’s Belarus arm said that Russian officials are en route for third round of discussions.

The issue of safe evacuation of Indians from Sumy and Kharkiv also was discussed between PM Modi and Vladimir Putin. The people mentioned above said that Putin assured PM Modi that Russia will cooperate in safely evacuating Indian citizens from Ukraine. He stressed on evacuations from Sumy where hundreds of Indian students are stuck due to ongoing hostilities.

Vladimir Putin informed the Prime Minister of India that, given the aggravation of the humanitarian situation, the Russian Armed Forces announced the introduction of a “regime of silence” and the opening of humanitarian corridors today. At the same time, nationalist formations continue to obstruct the withdrawal of civilians, including foreign citizens, from the areas of hostilities, using brute force and resorting to various kinds of provocations.

Attention was drawn to the fact that Indian students who were held by radicals in Kharkiv managed to leave the city only as a result of strong international pressure on the Kiev authorities. Russian servicemen are making every effort to ensure the evacuation of Indian citizens from Sumy. Narendra Modi expressed gratitude to the Russian side for the measures taken to return his compatriots to their homeland.

At the request of the Prime Minister of India, Vladimir Putin outlined the assessments of the progress of the negotiations between the Russian delegation and Ukrainian representatives, the third round of which is scheduled to be held today.

Narendra Modi indicated his readiness to provide any possible assistance in order to resolve the conflict as soon as possible.

Earlier, the Russian government opened humanitarian corridors and called for a partial ceasefire so that civilians can be evacuated safely. The Russian side warned Ukraine against breaching the ceasefire rules and said that it would use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to monitor the evacuation of people from the battle torn cities.

Bombing and hostilties continued on the eleventh day of the so-called military operation in Ukraine. Zelensky said that Russia bombed the cities of Mykolaiv and Kharkiv and their residential centres and called for boycott of Russian products. Russian president Putin on the other hand was resolute that he would achieve the objectives he desired in Ukraine either ‘through negotiation or through war’.

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