India welcomes Trump-Putin meeting, ready to support peace efforts in Ukraine

New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) India on Saturday welcomed the forthcoming summit between the United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that is scheduled to take place in Alaska on August 15. 

"India welcomes the understanding reached between the United States and the Russian Federation for a meeting in Alaska on 15th August 2025. This meeting holds the promise of bringing to an end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and opening up the prospects for peace. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said on several occasions, ‘This is not an era of war’, read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

New Delhi, the MEA statement mentioned, endorses the upcoming Summit meeting and "stands ready" to support these efforts.

Earlier today, Trump announced a summit with Russia, a meeting which could also decide the future of the 25 per cent punitive tariff imposed on India by Washington for buying Russian oil.

Crowning three days of fast developments, Trump announced on Truth Social on Friday, "The highly anticipated meeting between myself and Putin will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska".

"Further details to follow", he said.

It was a quick turnaround because Trump had said on Thursday that he was "very disappointed" with Putin, even as he spoke of progress in discussions with him.

Preparing for the summit, Putin called Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday evening to brief him about the discussions he had with the US President on Ukraine.

The Kremlin Press Office readout of their conversation said, "In light of the special privileged partnership between Russia and India, Vladimir Putin shared the key outcomes of his meeting with US President's Special Envoy Steven Witkoff".

India’s External Affairs Ministry said, "While thanking President Putin for his detailed assessment, the Prime Minister reiterated India’s consistent position for peaceful resolution of the conflict".

Friday was the deadline Trump had set for imposing more sanctions on Moscow, and secondary tariffs – punitive levies on exports – on countries that buy energy from Russia.

Witcoff’s meeting with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday laid the groundwork for the summit.

Trump said, “We had some very good talks with President Putin” and there was "a very good chance” peace was around the corner.

Speaking to the media on Friday about a possible deal, he said, “There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both”.