NEW DELHI – India has officially welcomed the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which will take place in Alaska on August 15. On Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement that they hoped the meeting would “bring an end to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and open up the prospects for peace.”
The MEA statement repeated what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said for a long time: “This is not an era of war.” It further said, “India supports the upcoming Summit meeting and is ready to help these efforts.” The meeting will be the first US-Russia summit since 2021. It comes after a US envoy’s recent diplomatic efforts in Moscow made the high-stakes discussions possible.
Statement by Official Spokesperson⬇️
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) August 9, 2025
🔗 https://t.co/22vVtFYFOh pic.twitter.com/zWvhRSRlhp
President Trump said he will meet with the Russian president to talk about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine. He said that “swapping some territories” would be part of a possible peace accord. Ukraine quickly and strongly criticized this idea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a strong warning in response to the idea that a settlement could be reached without Kyiv’s direct involvement. He remarked in a Telegram post, “Any decisions that don’t include Ukraine are also decisions against peace.” They won’t bring anything. These decisions are dead. “They will never work.” He also strongly opposed the idea of giving up any Ukrainian land, saying, “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”
The impending conference has brought attention to the diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict, which has been going on for four years. India and other countries are hoping for a resolution, although the two sides are still very far apart, especially when it comes to territorial integrity.