Jaishankar meets Russian counterpart in Indonesia, discusses Ukraine

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov here and discussed bilateral economic issues and matters related to the Ukraine conflict.

Jaishankar met Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India Ministerial in the Indonesian capital, their second bilateral meeting in just over a month.

"Met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia in Jakarta today. Discussed bilateral economic issues, as also matters pertaining to the Ukraine conflict," Jaishankar tweeted.

The two sides discussed the Ukraine conflict on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi voiced India's deep concern about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, especially on the countries of the Global South, asserting that the conflict must end.

 

In an interview with the French newspaper Les Echos ahead of his official visit to France, Modi said India has always stood for peaceful resolution of differences through dialogue and diplomacy.

On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the prime minister said he has spoken several times with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine to underscore India's willingness to support all genuine efforts that can help bring this conflict to an end.

"India's stand has been clear, transparent and consistent. I have said that it is not an era of war. We have urged both sides to resolve issues through dialogue and diplomacy," he said.

Meanwhile, Russia's foreign ministry said that during the conversation between Lavrov and Jaishankar, a number of topical issues of bilateral relations and cooperation in various areas was touched upon.

"They exchanged views on key problems on the regional and international agendas, including interaction within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa)," it said in a brief statement.

On June 1, Jaishankar met Lavrov during the meeting of the foreign ministers of the BRICS in Cape Town, South Africa.

In the last few months, India has become a leading importer of discounted crude oil from Russia notwithstanding increasing displeasure in the West over the procurement in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

India's economic engagement with Russia has been on a major upswing in the last one year, largely due to its procurement of discounted Russian oil.