Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday praised India’s stance on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and said Russia appreciates that India is taking the situation in the entirety of effect and not just one-sided way. India has called for an immediate ceasefire but abstained from all UNSC resolutions condemning Russian aggression. The meeting between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart has come under global scrutiny at a time when Moscow is being isolated for its special military operation in Ukraine, going on for over a month now.
These days our western colleagues would like to reduce any meaningful international issue to the crisis in Ukraine. We do not fight anything and we appreciated that India is taking this situation in the entirety of effect and not just one-sided way,” Lavrov said.
Stating that India and Russia’s strategic partnership has been Moscow’s priority, the foreign minister said Russia is certainly interested in having the world order balance.The meeting comes as Russia is reportedly offering big discounts to India on the direct purchase of oil. Russia is willing to sell high-grade oil up to $35 per barrel – which could increase to $45 per barrel after the latest surge in global prices – and wants India to buy 15 million barrels in the first deal, a Bloomberg report said.
