On Monday, August 31, 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, concentrating on several crucial dimensions of their bilateral relationship, such as collaboration in trade and investment, energy, and defence.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 26th annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the capital city of Kyrgyzstan.
Prime Minister Modi added that each day the war continues pushes humanity backward, and that we must strive to bring the fighting to an end.
The discussions took place just over a week before Putin is scheduled to visit India for the annual BRICS summit.
Before the meeting, officials stated that the discussions would encompass the traditional pillars of India-Russia cooperation, such as defence, energy, trade, and investment.
PM Modi shared the video of the conversation with Russian President Putin on X, in which he can be heard saying, "As you know, India backs all initiatives aimed at achieving peace in this matter, and we will keep doing so in the future," Modi said to Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, according to a Kremlin transcript of their conversation.
"With each passing day that the war goes on, humanity is effectively pushed backward, while every move toward peace offers genuine hope to people everywhere. We must shift from perpetual conflict to bringing the war to a close and achieving a full halt to hostilities. We will have to advance firmly in this direction," said Modi, who has previously stated that he seeks a peaceful resolution for Ukraine."
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail, a conservative British newspaper, reported that the Russian President appeared uncomfortable with Prime Minister Modi’s remarks on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Daily Mail reported that when PM said 'We need to move from an endless war to the end of the war, Russian president was awkwardly looking down and away from the leader's gaze, during the broadcast.
A stern-faced Putin then slapped down his earpiece – used to hear the translation – and said through gritted teeth: 'Thank you very much, Mr Prime Minister. We are moving in that direction.'
The Kremlin, which has consistently maintained that Russia will only end the war on its own terms—a stance Ukraine has rejected as an unacceptable demand for capitulation—said after the talks that Putin had updated Modi on the progress of the “special military operation,” Russia’s preferred term for its actions in Ukraine, according to the state-run TASS news agency.