India has spoken with Russia 'frankly and bluntly' on Ukraine conflict: EAM

Highlighting India's efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India has had the opportunity to talk to Moscow "very frankly and bluntly" on the issue.

He also said that India has been used by others in 'passing messages' during the conflict.

Jaishankar, who is on a visit to Malaysia, was interacting with the Indian community during an event.

"I go back to India tomorrow, I have the foreign minister of Ukraine visiting me the day after that. We have also been the country who have the opportunity to talk to the Russians very frankly and bluntly on this issue (Russia-Ukraine conflict). On different aspects, others have used us to pass messages," Jaishankar said.

"The same thing applies when it comes to the Gaza-Israel conflict as well. This is not an issue of a moral cop-out. This is an issue today of appreciating that real life actually has a whole lot of complexities and that the considered answers, the sustainable answers, cannot be very angular. They cannot pick some facets to the exclusion of other facets," he added.

Regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has always condemned civilian killings and called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

In a major statement, PM Modi told President Putin that "this is not the era of war" on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan last year. The statement even made to the G20 communique under the presidency of India.

On March 20, PM Modi held a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will be coming for a two-day official visit to India, during which he will discuss bilateral ties as well as cooperation on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

He will arrive in India on Thursday. He is visiting India at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar is on a visit to Malaysia, followed by the ones in Singapore and the Philippines.

Earlier in the day, the EAM met Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran, the President of the Malaysian Indian Congress and appreciated their support for New Delhi-Kuala Lumpur ties.

"Met with Tan Sri @TSVigneswaranSA, President of @MIC_Malaysia and its members. Thanked them for their continued support towards nurturing closer India-Malaysia ties," he posted on X.

Jaishankar also received Saraswathy Kandasami, the Vice President of the People's Justice Party or the KEADILAN, in Kuala Lumpur.

"Received YB Senator@KSaraswathy24, Vice President of@KEADILANand other senior members earlier today in Kuala Lumpur.Appreciated their commitment for deepening cooperation in various domains," he stated.