US President Joe Biden said Monday that India was an exception among Washington’s allies with its “shaky” response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Biden lauded the US-led alliance, including NATO, the European Union and key Asian partners, for its united front against President Vladimir Putin.
Addressing a meeting of US business leaders in Washington, American President Joe Biden said there had been “a united front throughout NATO and in the Pacific.”
“The Quad is, with the possible exception of India being somewhat shaky on some of this, but Japan has been extremely strong — so has Australia — in terms of dealing with Putin’s aggression.”
Biden said that Putin was “counting on being able to split NATO” and instead, “NATO has never been stronger, more united, in its entire history than it is today.”
meanwhile Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it would not be possible to negotiate an end to the war in his country without a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, media reported on Monday. “I believe that until such time as we have a meeting with the president of the Russian Federation…you cannot truly understand what they are prepared to do in order to stop the war and what they are prepared to do if we are not ready for this or that compromise,” Zelenskiy said in an interview cited by Interfax Ukraine. Russia’s assault on Ukraine has killed thousands and driven almost a quarter of its 44 million people from their homes. Germany predicts the refugee number could reach as high as 10 million in coming weeks.
Indian oil refiners have reportedly continued to purchase discounted Russian oil, even as the West seeks to isolate Moscow.
An Indian government official said last week that the world’s third-biggest consumer of crude relies on imports for almost 85 percent of its needs, with Russia supplying a “marginal” less than one percent of this.
But “the jump in oil prices after the Ukraine conflict has now added to our challenges… India has to keep focusing on competitive energy sources,” the official added.
New Delhi, which historically has had close ties with Moscow, called for an end to the violence in Ukraine but has stopped short of condemning Russia’s invasion, abstaining in three votes at the United Nations.
The Ukraine government accused Russian troops of kidnapping three Israelis in the southeastern town of Melitopol, which they have occupied.
