Russia-Ukraine crisis: S Jaishankar also held talks with his Russian counterpart.
New Delhi:
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar held a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Thursday evening about the crisis in Ukraine.
In a tweet, Jaishankar said the discussion with Blinken was about ongoing developments in Ukraine and their implications.
“Appreciate the call from @SecBlinken. Discussed the ongoing developments in Ukraine and their implications,” he said.
Appreciate the call of @SecBlinken†
Discussed the ongoing developments in Ukraine and their implications.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 24, 2022
During his talks with Lavrov, Mr Jaishankar said he had made it clear to his Russian counterpart that dialogue and diplomacy are the best way forward.
“I just spoke with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about developments in Ukraine. He stressed that dialogue and diplomacy are the best way forward,” the foreign minister tweeted.
I have just spoken with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about developments in Ukraine.
Stresses that dialogue and diplomacy are the best way forward.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 24, 2022
During the day, Jaishankar also spoke with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss about the evolving situation in Ukraine.
“A telephone conversation with the British Foreign Secretary @trussliz. Exchanged views on the Ukrainian situation,” the minister tweeted.
After the Russian attack on Ukraine, India underlined the need for dialogue between the main parties and would be happy to facilitate such cooperation.
Foreign Minister Harsh Vardhan Shringla said at a media briefing that India is in “close contact” with all concerned, including the US, Russia and the European Union, as it has an “interest” in the region.
“We have maintained that the parties need to talk to each other, parties need to be involved and if there is anything we can do to facilitate that engagement, we are happy to do it. We will try and be as helpful as possible along the way,” said the Mr Shringla.
As for Western sanctions against Russia, the foreign minister said certain unilateral sanctions already existed and some additional sanctions have now been imposed.
“But this is an evolving situation, as I said and we need to see what kind of impact these sanctions will have on our own interests. Obviously, we need to study this carefully because any sanction will have an impact on our existing relationship. I think it would only be correct to acknowledge that factor,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
