"It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world's largest democracy hug the world's most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day," President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.
"Landed in Moscow. Looking forward to further deepening the special and privileged strategic partnership between our nations," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X. The trip coincided with a massive Russian missile strike on Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine that killed at least 28 civilians and injured 112 others.
It will be Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first trip to Russia since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
More than half of the signatories came from Europe. When counting other key Western allies outside of Europe – the U.S., Canada, and Australia – the disparity is even more stark.
The operator of the world's largest oil refining complex, India's Reliance Industries, has reached a one-year agreement with Russia's state-controlled oil company Rosneft to purchase oil in rubles, Reuters reported on May 28.
India's imports of Russian oil rose to a nine-month high after shipments from non-sanctioned tankers of the Russian Sovcomflot company resumed, Reuters reported on May 21, citing data from shipping and trade sources.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not yet confirmed his own attendance. "The level of participation will depend on timing, logistics, and parallel commitments," Modi said.
According to reports, a top official in the Sri Lankan government stated that the government will send a delegation to Russia to investigate the fate of hundreds of nationals reportedly fighting in the war in Ukraine.
Four people were arrested in India on suspicions of tricking Indian men into traveling to Russia for lucrative jobs only to be forced to serve in the military, the country's law enforcement agency said on May 7.
India will receive two Russian-made warships in the next few months as the two countries work around U.S. sanctions that have complicated purchases of Russian arms, unnamed Indian officials told Bloomberg.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was in the Indian capital New Delhi at the invitation of Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and that the two would "pay specific attention to the peace formula" in their talks.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is planning to visit India later this week, marking his first "first ever" trip to the country, he said on March 25.
Russia's oil industry is starting to feel the pressure of Western sanctions as Indian refineries no longer accept tankers of Moscow's state-owned state-run Sovcomflot shipping company, Bloomberg reported on March 23.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is expected to visit India later this month, marking his first trip to the country, The Hindu reported on March 19, citing an undisclosed diplomatic source.
"(I) look forward to working together to further strengthen the time-tested Special & Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia in the years to come," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
The news came after multiple media reports said that Indian men who came to Russia for work or tourism were then coerced into joining the war against Ukraine.
Seven young men from the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana appealed to Indian authorities for help earlier this week in a video shared on the social platform X.
A new U.S. sanctions package against Russia may threaten Russian oil exports to India, a major source of funding for its invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported on Feb. 28.
Germany is conducting "discreet negotiations" to procure artillery ammunition from India, which is estimated to have "several hundred thousand rounds" stored in stockpiles, Der Spiegel reported on Feb. 25.
As Western sanctions designed to cripple Russian energy exports barely slow them down, the Kremlin continues to make enough money to keep its war against Ukraine going indefinitely, just by selling oil to China and India. After pivoting away from Europe, Moscow found enthusiastic buyers in Beijing and New Delhi.
A Sword of Damocles once again hangs over Ukraine. Since November, Russia has been amassing troops along Ukraine's eastern border, demanding sweeping concessions from the NATO alliance and threatening to plunge Ukraine back into Russia's sphere of influence once again. Many Western experts and governments now fear military incursion by
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