Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India “endorses the upcoming summit meeting and stands ready to support these efforts.”
New Delhi: India on Saturday welcomed the announcement of a summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, scheduled to take place in Alaska on August 15, expressing optimism that the meeting could pave the way for ending the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
In a statement, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the meeting “holds the promise of bringing to an end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and opening up the prospects for peace.” Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repeated message to world leaders that “this is not an era of war,” Jaiswal said India “endorses the upcoming summit meeting and stands ready to support these efforts.”
The Alaska summit will be the first presidential-level meeting between the US and Russia since 2021, when former US President Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva. Trump announced the upcoming talks earlier on Saturday, describing them as part of his push to broker peace in the three-year-old conflict.
Ahead of the meeting, Trump suggested that any peace deal could involve “swapping some territories,” saying the arrangement would be “to the betterment of both” sides. “Nothing easy,” he added, “but we’re gonna get some back, we’re gonna get some switched.”
The comments drew a sharp response from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who rejected any plan involving territorial concessions or excluding Ukraine from negotiations. “Any decisions that are made without Ukraine are decisions against peace,” Zelensky said on Telegram. “They will not bring anything. These are dead decisions. They will never work.”
For India, a peace agreement between the US, Russia, and Ukraine would not only end hostilities but could also neutralize the threat of secondary US sanctions over New Delhi’s energy imports from Moscow.
The MEA reiterated that Prime Minister Modi has consistently urged both Putin and Western leaders to seek a peaceful resolution, stressing that diplomacy and dialogue remain the only viable path forward.
