India, US spent a lot of time discussing Ukraine war: Jaishankar

S Jaishankar pointed out that the discussions with Americans over Russia's offensive were more about what could be done to encourage an early cessation of hostilities.

Foreign minister S Jaishankar, who is currently in the United States and has held a series of high-level meetings, said on Wednesday that a lot of time was spent on discussing the ongoing war in Ukraine, which will soon complete two months. "Obviously a lot of our time went to discussions on Ukraine, there was discussion on US perspectives, their analysis, their sense, what they think is likely to happen. The conflict (Russia-Ukraine) and diplomacy involved in it -- peace talks, progress, etc were one set of issues that came up," according to news agency ANI quoted him as saying.

Jaishankar added that the Narendra Modi government had provided 90 tons of relief material to Ukraine last month but the focus is now more on the supply of medicines to the war-torn country.(ANI)

Jaishankar added that the Narendra Modi government had provided 90 tons of relief material to Ukraine last month but the focus is now more on the supply of medicines to the war-torn country.

“We (India and the United States) discussed the energy situation, at some length we discussed food security of all countries -- what could be done? Humanitarian situation, what are different countries doing, we spoke about that,” Jaishankar also said.

The foreign minister pointed out that the discussions with Americans over Russia's offensive were more about what could be done to encourage an early cessation of hostilities.

“That's where the focus should be. We do think a large part of the international community and some other countries have taken active interest and think along similar lines,” Jaishankar told reporters.

A few days back, Modi and United States President Joe Biden had a virtual meeting over the Ukraine war. Both leaders sought to bridge differences in their positions on the Russian offensive.

Since the beginning of the war on February 24, India has condemned and expressed concerns over the attacks on Ukrainian cities, the casualties and the difficulties that civilians are facing daily.

However, it has abstained from a United Nations resolution suspending Russia from the human rights council. Ninety-three countries have voted in favour of the resolution and 24 against it.

(With inputs from ANI)