VIENNA: India stands ready to give all possible support to restoring peace to war-torn Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Wednesday in Vienna after a Kremlin visit criticized by Kyiv.
Modi arrived in Vienna late Tuesday after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where the Indian leader urged “peace through dialogue,” saying that “war cannot solve problems.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized a photo of Modi hugging Putin during the visit, saying it was “a devastating blow to peace.”
Modi’s trip to Russia came as tensions flared in Europe, following a deadly Russian missile barrage in Ukraine that Kyiv said hit a children’s hospital in the capital.
“This is not an age of war. Problems cannot be solved on the battlefield,” Modi told reporters in Vienna alongside Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
Modi said India and Austria stand “ready to provide all possible support” to “rapidly restore peace and stability.”
On Ukraine, Nehammer said both countries shared the “common goal” to achieve a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace, in accordance with the UN Charter,” underlining India’s crucial role as the world’s largest democracy.
According to Nehammer, neutral Austria was ready to serve as a “venue for dialogue” for “future peace summits,” adding that his cabinet was “in constant contact with the EU.”
The two leaders did not take any questions.
During his visit, Modi also recalled that the Congress of Vienna in the 19th century had laid the foundations for peace and stability in this part of the world.
The state visit to Austria coincides with the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and is the first by an Indian head of government since Indira Gandhi in 1983.