PM Modi, French President Macron discuss early end to conflict in Ukraine

PM Modi said he discussed pressing global issues, including the ongoing Ukraine war during their Saturday call.

Updated on: Sep 7, 2025, 04:51:10 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar

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New Delhi: French President Emmanuel Macron briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday about the initiative of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” to end the war in Ukraine, and the Indian side reiterated its backing for the resolution of the conflict and early restoration of peace.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G7 Summit at Kananaskis, in Alberta, Canada. (PMO)

Macron spoke to Modi two days after he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other leaders of the coalition in Paris on Thursday and announced that 26 countries are willing to provide troops or other military assistance to Ukraine once the fighting ends as part of an effort to guarantee the nation’s security.

The two leaders also discussed India-France relations, including cooperation in areas such as trade, defence and technology.

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“Exchanged views on international and regional issues, including efforts for bringing an early end to the conflict in Ukraine. The India-France Strategic Partnership will continue to play a key role in fostering global peace and stability,” Modi said on social media.

“We reviewed and positively assessed the progress in bilateral cooperation in various areas,” he added.

Macron said on social media that he had briefed Modi on the “outcome of the work we carried out with President Zelensky and our partners of the Coalition of the Willing” on Thursday. “India and France share the same determination to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” he said.

“Building on our friendship and our strategic partnership, we will continue moving forward together to trace this path toward peace,” Macron said.

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The Coalition of the Willing is a temporary grouping that comprises mostly European countries, though it also includes Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada. Leaders of 35 countries attended the meeting in Paris. Zelenskyy, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attended in person, while others joined online.

Macron’s phone call is part of a European outreach to India to get it to use its relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek an end to the fighting in Ukraine. India is also among the few countries that has been in touch with both Putin and Zelenskyy.

European Council President António Costa and Von der Leyen had spoken to Modi on Thursday to help in persuading Russia to end the war, and the PM reiterated India’s support for the resolution of the conflict. “India has an important role to play in bringing Russia to end its war of aggression and helping create a path towards peace,” Costa and Von der Leyen said on social media posts after the conversation.

In recent weeks, Putin and Zelenskyy have dialled Modi to discuss efforts to end the conflict. The issue also figured when Modi met Putin on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in China.

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The external affairs ministry said in a readout that Modi and Macron exchanged views on recent efforts aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine. Modi reiterated “India’s consistent support for peaceful resolution of the conflict and early restoration of peace and stability”, and both leaders agreed to remain in touch and work closely to promote global peace and stability.

The two leaders also reviewed bilateral cooperation across sectors such as economic, defence, science, technology and space, and reiterated their commitment to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership in line with the Horizon 2047 Roadmap, Indo-Pacific Roadmap and Defence Industrial Roadmap.

Modi thanked Macron for accepting the invitation to the AI Impact Summit to be hosted by India in February 2026.

India, which has not publicly censured Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has repeatedly called for direct talks between Russia and Ukraine to find a lasting resolution of the conflict. Modi has also told Putin and Zelensky that a solution can’t be found on the battlefield and talks won’t succeed under the shadow of the gun.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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