Putin responds to Prime Minister Modi’s call for “peaceful discussion” in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that India and China supported “peaceful discussion” in Ukraine, a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared to disagree with him over the situation during a summit in Uzbekistan.

Putin told a press conference in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana that Ukraine was not prepared for negotiations and thanked Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for his assistance in arranging prisoner swaps.

“India and China always discuss the importance of establishing dialogue and resolving disputes diplomatically; we understand their perspective.” We respect the position of our close allies and partners. But we also know Kyiv’s position: “They keep claiming they want dialogue, and it appears that they asked for it, and now they have issued an official decision that precludes negotiations,” Putin was cited as saying by Reuters.

During a meeting with Putin in Samarkand in September, Modi warned the Russian leader that “today’s era is not of war,” remarks that were interpreted as a public reprimand by several world leaders.

Modi voiced the demand for an early cease-fire at a bilateral meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the first between the two leaders since their December summit in New Delhi and since the Ukraine war began this February (SCO).