PM Modi thanks Putin for sharing insights on Alaska talks with Trump, reiterates call for peace in Ukraine

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said Putin shared his assessment of his meeting with Trump. “While thanking President Putin, the Prime Minister underlined India’s consistent position for a peaceful resolution of the conflict through diplomacy and dialogue. He reiterated that India supports all efforts in this regard,” it said.

The PMO said the two leaders also touched upon a number of issues of bilateral cooperation with a view to further strengthen the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia.

“Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. The Russian President briefed Prime Minister Modi on the key outcomes of the Russia-US summit in Alaska,” the Kremlin said in a statement. “The Prime Minister thanked President Putin for the update. The leaders discussed prospects of a long-term resolution to the Ukrainian crisis and agreed to maintain dialogue on the matter, as well as on other pressing international issues,” it said, adding that Putin also expressed condolences on the recent flooding in India.

Besides Modi, Putin also called up leaders of Tajikistan, South Africa, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus on Monday to brief them on his talks with Trump. This means that Putin is keeping his strategic partners in the loop about his conversation with Trump on the Russia-Ukraine war.

The phone call between Modi and Putin — their second conversation in 10 days — is significant in the backdrop of the tension in ties with the US after Trump doubled the tariff on India over its purchase of Russian oil. On August 8, Modi and Putin held a phone conversation during which they discussed “the latest developments on Ukraine” and reaffirmed their “commitment to further deepen the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership”.

Modi and Putin are expected to meet on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders’ summit in China’s Tianjin on August 31-September 1. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is scheduled to travel to Moscow to meet his counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on August 21. Earlier this month, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also travelled to Moscow and met Putin.

Thank my friend, President Putin, for his phone call and for sharing insights on his recent meeting with President Trump in Alaska. India has consistently called for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict and supports all efforts in this regard. I look forward to our…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 18, 2025

India had welcomed the Trump-Putin meeting on Saturday, appreciating the “progress made” and commending the two leaders for their initiative to bring peace to Ukraine. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy had called up Jaishankar and briefed him on the discussions between Trump and European leaders including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, after the Alaska meeting.

Putin’s phone call, however, provided a first-hand briefing of the talks. India faces a 50 per cent US tariff – including 25 per cent as “penalty” for buying Russian oil — and therefore had a clear stake on the outcome of the Trump-Putin meeting. US officials, including the Treasury Secretary, have warned that in case there is no deal, an even higher penalty may be imposed.

But with Trump’s latest remarks that the US may not impose secondary tariffs on countries continuing to procure Russian crude oil, India is hoping to get some relief.

“Well, he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) lost an oil client, so to speak, which is India, which was doing about 40 per cent of the oil. China, as you know, is doing a lot…And if I did what’s called a secondary sanction, or a secondary tariff, it would be very devastating from their standpoint. If I have to do it, I’ll do it. Maybe I won’t have to do it,” Trump had said in an interview with Fox News aboard Air Force One en route to Alaska for the meeting with Putin.

Earlier this month, three days after speaking to Putin, Modi also spoke to Zelenskyy on August 11 and conveyed that India remains committed to making every possible contribution for an early and peaceful resolution of the conflict. India has been consistently calling for ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.