US State Department spokeswoman Margaret McLeod said the US wants India to use its “special partnership” with Russia to “pressure” Moscow to stop the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and work for lasting peace in the region.
The US official also reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s famous statement “This is not the era of war”, which the Prime Minister had told Russian President Vladimir Putin during the SCO Summit in Bali in 2022.
Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, McLeod said, “The US is urging all its partners, including India, to put pressure on Russia for lasting peace in Ukraine. Russia must get out of Ukraine, this is not the era of war, as the Prime Minister (PM Modi) has said.”
He said, “India and Russia have a special partnership. We want India to use this special partnership to put pressure on Russia (against the war)… Russia’s war in Ukraine is a violation of the UN Charter.”
When asked how the US and Western countries view India’s stance on the Ukraine conflict, the US official said, “It would be better if you ask the Indian government about India’s stance.”
“But from the US point of view, Russia is violating Ukraine’s sovereignty. It is attacking civilian infrastructure. Just yesterday, we saw an attack on a children’s hospital, where there were no Ukrainian troops… This is against the UN Charter and international law,” he said.
More than 40 children were killed in a missile attack on a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital on Monday. Kiev has blamed Moscow for this attack.
Regarding the ongoing NATO summit in Washington DC, MacLeod said that the alliance’s goal in this meeting is to discuss the vision for the next 75 years. He also said that a relief package for Ukraine would be announced during the summit.
“At this NATO summit, we celebrate 75 years of peace, unity, growth and innovation, and discuss preparations for the next 75 years,” the US official said.
“Most of the NATO members are in Europe, where the Russia-Ukraine war is going on, so this is a very serious issue for them (European NATO members)… A big relief package will be announced for Ukraine. We will also get an announcement by Germany on the establishment of a coordination cell,” he said.
The NATO summit is being held in Washington DC from July 9-11.
The summit comes at a crucial time as the Russia-Ukraine conflict that began in February 2022 has intensified and some cracks have emerged within NATO amid suspicion among some European partners and comments by former US President Donald Trump against the alliance.
It is also the first NATO summit after the accession of two new member countries – Finland and Sweden.
Speaking about imposing a price cap of USD 60 on purchases of Russian crude oil, the US official said the price cap has “reduced” Russia’s income and seeks to further reduce the resources available to Moscow.
MacLeod further said, “We want as few resources as possible to reach Russia, because it is using the same earnings to attack Ukraine. The price cap has affected Russia’s earnings, but as long as it (Russia) is able to earn, it will continue to attack Ukraine… so we want to reduce its profit as much as possible.”
It is noteworthy that despite pressure from Western countries, India has continued to buy crude oil from Russia under a price cap, which several government ministers and officials have said has helped keep domestic prices of petrol and diesel stable.
Further, speaking on India-US relations, the US official said that the relationship between the two countries is very strong and added that Washington wants to further strengthen its ties with New Delhi.
He said, “We see that there is a deep relationship between India and America, we are talking on many issues…sometimes we have differences in our views, but we have free, clear and open communication with each other. We are very positive about our relationship…our government wants to further strengthen our bilateral relations.”
Asked where India-US relations are headed since it is an election year in the US, McLeod said she cannot comment on her country’s domestic politics but added that “historically, both parties (Republicans and Democrats) have worked to strengthen ties with India.”
Prime Minister Modi went on a state visit to the US in June last year. After this, President Joe Biden came to India for the G-20 summit last year.
The Quad summit between the two countries is also expected to be held in India later this year.
