New Delhi:
Speaking about the Rex Fridman podcast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly called for diplomacy to resolve the war in Ukraine, telling Russian President Vladimir Putin “this is not a time of war,” while Ukrainian President Volodimia Zelensky advised that victory on the battlefield would not lead to a final resolution.
Fridman, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been hosting the Lex Fridman podcast on YouTube since 2015. Fridman’s channel has over 4.5 million subscribers and nearly 820 million viewers.
Speaking about the ongoing Russian-Ukurein conflict, Prime Minister Modi said he has close ties with both countries.
“I have close ties to Russia and Ukraine,” he said. “I can sit with Putin and say this is not a time of war. And President Zelensky is in a friendly way, and there is never a solution on the battlefield, regardless of the number of people in the world who will stand with you.”
“Ukraine may have countless arguments with its allies, but it will pay off. The argument should include both parties instead,” he added.
The Kremlin confirmed today that Russia and the US discussed “next steps” to end the war following new diplomatic efforts. A few hours ago, Kiev’s European allies had urged Moscow to commit to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. The US had called for a ceasefire after talks in Saudi Arabia, which Ukraine accepted.
Speaking of the latest developments, Prime Minister Modi said: “In the beginning, it was difficult to find peace, but the current situation offers a meaningful and productive opportunity for consultation between Ukraine and Russia. There has been a lot of suffering. The South of the world is also suffering.”
So far, Putin has agreed to the proposal, listed a set of terms and refrained from raising what he called a “serious question” about the initiative.
Zelensky accused Moscow of delaying peace efforts, saying, “The Kremlin doesn’t want to end the war. They first wanted to improve the situation on the battlefield.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to Moscow, the two discussed “specific aspects of implementation of understanding” that they reached at the US-Russia summit last month.
