‘Haven’t Resolved That Fully’: Biden On Talks With India Over Russia-Ukraine Conflict

President Joe Biden said United States will hold consultations with India on the crisis in Ukraine following Russia's military action against Kyiv.

New Delhi: President Joe Biden said United States will hold consultations with India on the crisis in Ukraine following Russia’s military action against Kyiv. Russia pressed its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital Friday after unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the global post-Cold War security order.

“We are going to have consultations with India (on the Ukrainian crisis). We haven’t resolved that fully,” Joe Biden said during a White House news conference on the Ukrainian crisis, news agency PTI reported.

Biden was responding to a question if India was fully on board with the United States on the Russian aggression.

India has a historic and time-tested friendship with Russia. At the same time, its strategic partnership with the US has grown at an unprecedented pace over the last decade and half.

It is believed that the Biden administration at various levels, ranging from the White House, the State Department and its National Security Council have reached out to their Indian counterparts at multiple levels seeking full support from it on the Ukrainian crisis.

On Thursday night, PM Modi held talks with President Putin on the Ukraine crisis during which he reiterated India’s long-standing conviction that the differences between Russia and the NATO group can only be resolved through honest and sincere dialogue. The prime minister appealed for an immediate cessation of violence and called for concerted efforts from all sides to return to the path of diplomatic negotiations and dialogue, according to a readout issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Russian President Putin said the move to invade Ukraine was necessary to defend Moscow. In a televised addressed, Putin warned other countries that if they attempted to interfere with the Russian military operation they would see “consequences they have never seen”.

Meanwhile, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the government had information that “subversive groups” were encroaching on the city, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Kyiv “could well be under siege” in what US officials believe is a brazen attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to dismantle the government and replace it with his own regime.

(With inputs from Agencies)