Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was thankful for the concern expressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the war in Ukraine. Asked at a media interaction here whether he saw a role for India in negotiating peace between Russia and Ukraine, he referred to his interactions with Modi, whom he described as a "friend", and said his country was grateful for this.
Putin said it is hard to say when exactly this war will end and that it will be difficult as well as unproductive to predict a time frame.
The Russian leader blamed America and NATO for pushing Russia into the war and said his country would triumph.
He said the Russian army has become one of the most combat effective and high-tech armies in the world and that NATO would get tired of "waging this war against us". "We will have the upper hand. We'll win. We'll prevail," he said through an interpreter to the select group of foreign journalists.
The Russian leader said he was open to discussing peace but claimed Ukraine was now backing out from the efforts made earlier.
In his comments a fortnight earlier, Putin had identified India, China, and Brazil as the countries with which Russia had been in touch on the issue.
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