West Picked Remarks by Modi That Suit Their Rhetoric, Russian Ambassador to India Says

During their latest in-person meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin assured Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he was aware of India’s concerns about the situation in Ukraine, while the Indian leader reiterated his call for an early end to hostilities, stressing the need for diplomacy.

Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov on Friday accused the West of picking parts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks that only suit their rhetoric on the Ukraine crisis.

During bilateral talks held on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Modi told Putin that “today's era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to you on the phone about this." Following the SCO meeting, Pentagon official Ely Ratner said that Washington is “heartened by Prime Minister Modi's comments," while, French President Emmanuel Macron said "Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India was right when he said the time is not for war.”

Dismissing foreign media reports claiming a divergence in the Indian and Russian approaches to the Ukraine crisis, Russia's ambassador assured that Moscow, like Delhi, is committed to putting an end to the conflict “at the earliest,” while NATO, and primarily the United States, are to be blamed for the "greatest miscalculation."

"Western leaders conveniently pick out those words of the prime minister that suit their rhetoric. Presenting these words as a rebuke to the Russian president and forgetting and omitting other words of the prime minister who was [talking] about the unshakable friendship, about the commitment to continue our close relationship. We do not have a contradiction with the Indian approach," the ambassador said.

The Russian ambassador also denied media reports claiming that the Indian military has been facing arms supply disruptions due to the situation in Ukraine. On Tuesday, a US State Department official claimed that Delhi is coming to "realize" that Russia is "no longer a reliable weapons supplier."

“The S-400 missile system deliveries (from Russia to India) are going according to schedule and any delays in defense-related issues are not because of the Ukraine [crisis],” Alipov clarified.

The Russian envoy said that Modi and Putin held a very comprehensive discussion on energy and fertilizer supplies during the last meeting in Samarkand. Alipov believes that India is going to “pursue its own interest in the situation” if the West imposes a price cap on Russian oil.

“Russia won't trade and cooperate to her detriment. If we consider that the prices are unfair to us, we would simply stop supplying the oil to the buyer and to those countries that join the US initiatives on the price cap,” Alipov warned.

The envoy also expressed support for India-China cooperation and said that Russia stands for developing an atmosphere of trust between the two neighbors.

In a recent televised address, President Putin reiterated that the main goal of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine remains the liberation of Donbass, whose citizens have been under constant attacks from Ukrainian forces since the US-backed coup in 2014.

In Samarkand, Putin told the Indian prime minister that Russia would do its best “make it (the Ukraine crisis) stop as soon as possible.”

“However, unfortunately, the opposing side, the leadership of Ukraine, announced that it was abandoning the negotiation process and declared that it wants to achieve its goals by military means, 'on the battlefield,' as they say. Nevertheless, we will always keep you informed of what is happening there," Putin stated.

On Tuesday, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, as well as the Russian-controlled parts of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, announced they would hold referendums on joining Russia from September 23-27. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the current situation confirms that the people of Donbass want to be “masters of their own destiny.”