2,000 people fleeing Mariupol are on buses headed to a Ukrainian-held city. ‘Today we expect the arrival of a record number of Mariupol residents,’ official says.
Speaking on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov thanked India for “taking this situation in its entirety of facts” during a meeting with Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar.
“We appreciate that India is taking this situation in its entirety of facts, not just in a one-sided way,” Lavrov said at the conference in New Delhi on Friday.
“Our Western colleagues would like to reduce any meaningful international issue to the crisis in Ukraine, you know our position, we do not hide anything,” Lavrov added.
“Friendship is the keyword to describe the history of our relations and our relations were very sustainable during many difficult times in the past … We are certainly interested in having the world order balanced,” Lavrov said.
S. Jaishankar said the meeting was taking place “in a difficult international environment,” adding that India “has always been in favor of resolving differences and disputes through dialogue and diplomacy.”
Lavrov said economic matters and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic would also be on the agenda.
Some background: Lavrov’s meeting with S. Jaishankar came hot on the heels of his summit with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday.
Both India and China have been under pressure to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine as the death toll from the unprovoked conflict rises. They have refused to condemn Russia’s brutal invasion outright, and both abstained from voting on United Nations resolutions demanding Moscow immediately stop its attack on Ukraine.
However, by the end of Lavrov’s first day in China, Beijing had made its stance clear. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said there is “no ceiling for China-Russia cooperation,” according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
Meanwhile, there has also been a flurry of diplomatic activity involving India recently. Earlier this month, leaders from Japan and Australia held summits with their Indian counterparts. Also this week, diplomats from Germany and the European Union are visiting Delhi.
And Lavrov’s trip coincides with the visits of Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and the United States’ Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics, Daleep Singh.
CNN’s Jessie Yeung contributed reporting to this post.
