Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday praised India’s neutrality ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as western nations intensified pressure on New Delhi to condemn Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The meeting between Modi and Lavrov topped off 48 hours of intense diplomatic activity in New Delhi, with visiting envoys from the US and UK seeking to persuade India — a longstanding partner of both Moscow and Washington — to take a stand against the invasion.
“These days our western colleagues would like to reduce any meaningful international issue to the crisis in Ukraine,” Lavrov said. “We appreciate that India is taking this situation in the entirety [of its] effects, not just in a one-sided way.”