Modi-Putin hug outlines India’s warm relationship with Russia as NATO summit begins

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in a display of the two nation’s strong relationship while most of the Western world condemns Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Modi’s visit to Russia is his first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and he’ll be one of the first world leaders among the United States’s allies to visit Putin.

Both Ukraine and the U.S. disapproved of the visit.

“We have made quite clear directly with India our concerns about their relationship with Russia,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made his concerns more obvious.

“It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day,” he wrote on X.

Modi spoke well of Russia during his visit and largely avoided confrontation outside of a moment when he alluded to a recent Russian missile strike on a children’s hospital in Kyiv.

“Anybody who believes in humanity is aggrieved at the loss of life in war or in terror attacks,” Modi told Putin. “Even so, it breaks our hearts to see innocent children get killed.”

Putin seemingly sidestepped a straight response to Modi’s concern, saying, “I am grateful to you for the attention you are paying to the most pressing issues, including trying to find some ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, and of course, primarily by peaceful means.”

Russia previously denied striking civilian targets, but at least 22 people, including two children, were killed in Kyiv on Monday.

India appears to be the closest world power to Russia outside of China. Putin made his last international visit to the country on Dec. 6, 2021, in New Delhi. He hasn’t visited the U.S. since 2015, though has made trips to China each year since the Ukraine conflict.

One of the main reasons for India’s relationship with Russia is they are a major defense supplier for the country and share nearly $65 billion in trade.

The meeting comes as the U.S. celebrates the 75th anniversary of NATO in Washington, D.C., where many world leaders such as President Joe Biden and Zelensky are expected to speak. NATO was originally formed as a measure to prevent Russia from invading, given the alliance would force every country to join a theoretical conflict. India is not part of NATO.

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Russia will likely be addressed at this week’s summit, awkwardly for India, which is trying to maintain close relations with both the U.S. and Russia, who have a strained relationship due to the Ukraine war.

The summit begins Tuesday and will finish Thursday. Biden is expected to speak on its opening day.