Ukraine: India hails Trump-Putin Summit, says efforts “highly commendable”
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: India on Saturday applauded the Summit meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, held in Alaska, and called their efforts towards making peace in Ukraine “highly commendable.”
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “India welcomes the Summit meeting in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Their leadership in the pursuit of peace is highly commendable,” the media reported.
“India appreciates the progress made in the Summit. The way forward can only be through dialogue and diplomacy. The world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine,” it said.
After the meeting on Friday, Trump described his discussions with Putin as “very productive”, although no final deal was reached.
“We had a very productive meeting, and there were many points that we agreed on. A couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we made some headway. There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump told reporters at a brief, joint press briefing.
The US President said he would brief his NATO allies and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the outcome of the talks.
The main goal of the summit, Trump emphasized, was to reduce the human toll of the ongoing war in Ukraine. “We’re going to stop 5,000, 6,000, 7,000 people a week from being killed, and President Putin wants to see that as much as I do,” Trump said.
He also credited both US and Russian teams for their work and highlighted his long-standing personal rapport with Putin.
The Russian President described the talks as “constructive” and thanked Trump for hosting the summit in Alaska. He said the choice of location (Alaska)was significant, noting that Russia and the US are separated by just 4 km at the Bering Strait.
He also recalled Alaska’s role in during the Second World War as a bridge between the US and the then Soviet Union, while highlighting cultural links with Russia.
Putin admitted that ties between Washington and Moscow had fallen to their lowest level since the Cold War. “At this new stage… bilateral relations have fallen to the lowest point since the Cold War. That’s not benefiting our countries and the world as a whole. Sooner or later, we have to amend the situation to move on from confrontation to dialogue,” Putin said.
He ended his remarks by inviting Trump to Moscow for future talks. “Next time in Moscow,” Putin said. Trump responded: “That’s an interesting one. I’ll get a little heat on that one, but I can see it possibly happening.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was kept away from the bilateral Summit, announced that he will meet President Trump in Washington on Monday.
He said he had a “long, meaningful conversation” with Trump on Saturday, shortly after the US President’s meeting with Putin in Alaska.
According to the White House, Trump spoke with Zelenskyy after his meeting with Putin and also held discussions with NATO leaders on Saturday morning.
