(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “fundamental assessments” of the conflict in Ukraine during a call on Friday, while both sides expressed satisfaction with growing bilateral cooperation, the Kremlin said.
Reuters partner agency ANI cited Modi’s office as saying Modi had reiterated his call for dialogue and diplomacy as the only way forward in the conflict.
Modi had made similar comments in public at a summit in September of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, when he told Putin that “today’s era is not an era of war”.
In a statement, the Kremlin said Putin had given Modi his assessment of the conflict at Modi’s request.
It said the leaders expressed satisfaction with the high level of cooperation in their “privileged strategic partnership” and discussed prospects for the two countries to work together in areas such as investment, energy, agriculture, transport and logistics.
India has become a leading buyer of Russian energy since Western sanctions triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February sharply reduced Western purchases of Russian oil and gas.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
