Russia’s Vladimir Putin spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday, days after he met US President Donald Trump in Alaska to discuss a permanent end to the war on Ukraine.
Tthe PM underlined India’s position on the war raging since February 2022, and his office said he called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. India will offer its full support in this regard, Mr Putin was told.
Mr Modi and Mr Putin also discuss issues of bilateral cooperation, the PMO said.
The two leaders agreed to remain in close touch.
Mr Modi later posted on X. “Thank my friend, President Putin, for his phone call and for sharing insights on his recent meeting with President Trump in Alaska. India has consistently called for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict and supports all efforts in this regard.”
“I look forward to our continued exchanges in the days to come,” the PM wrote.
Thank my friend, President Putin, for his phone call and for sharing insights on his recent meeting with President Trump in Alaska. India has consistently called for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict and supports all efforts in this regard. I look forward to our…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 18, 2025
On Saturday, after meeting Mr Trump, Vladimir Putin said he discussed ways of ending his war on Ukraine “on a fair basis”, and that the meeting had been “timely” and “very useful”.
“We have not had direct negotiations of this kind at this level for a long time,” he said, “We had the opportunity to calmly and in detail reiterate our position. The conversation was frank, substantive…”
READ | ‘Very Frank Talks, Bring Us Closer…’: Putin On Meeting Trump
Mr Trump, meanwhile, hailed the “very productive” meeting but refused to give specifics, declaring, “We’re not there yet, but we’ve made progress. There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”
He then pressure on Ukraine to agree to Russia’s ceasefire conditions.
Mr Putin’s phone call to the PM also came hours before Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy – not invited to the ‘peace’ summit in Alaska – is to meet Donald Trump in the White House.
The Ukraine President – who will no doubt remember his utterly mad earlier visit – will have backup this time, including Germany’s Friedrich Merz and France’s Emmanuel Macron.
READ | Zelensky Returns To Site Of Oval Office Shouting Match To Meet Trump
The Indian and Russian leaders had a detailed phone call 10 days ago – before the Alaska meeting – that included a conversation about global trade uncertainty as a result of the US leader’s tariffs.
The US has said it will levy a 25 per cent ‘penalty’ duty on imported Indian goods because Delhi continues to buy discounted crude oil from Moscow. This, Trump declared, was ‘funding’ the war in Ukraine, a war he pledged last year to end with one phone call but has failed to, so far.
India hit back hard over the ‘penalty’, pointing out richer West countries, which need less energy anyway, could afford to pay more for oil and gas from elsewhere. Developing countries, India snapped back, had to balance the energy needs of 1.4 billion people while considering costs.
India called the tariffs ‘unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable’.