Narendra Modi, the leader of India, warns Putin: "This is not the moment for war."

The invasion of Ukraine by Moscow appears to have been expressly rejected by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the time was not right for war. The latest setback for the Russian president came when Modi urged him to "step onto a path of peace" and emphasised the value of "democracy, diplomacy, and conversation."

The remarks by Modi, which were made during a face-to-face conversation on Friday outside of a regional forum, emphasised Russia's growing isolation on the international scene. They appeared the day after Putin acknowledged China's "questions and concerns" on the invasion.
Putin has recently seen a string of significant failures on the battlefield for his soldiers, and Modi's apparent condemnation of Russia's invasion is just the latest blow. Ukraine asserts that it has reclaimed about 8,000 square kilometres of land.

Similar to Beijing, New Delhi has maintained close ties with Moscow since the end of the Cold War and has thus far refrained from harshly denouncing the invasion by Russia, which continues to be India's top military supplier.
The two presidents' discussions "also pertained to global food security, energy security, and availability in the light of the difficulties originating from the current geo-political environment," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement following their meeting on Friday.
"They agreed to remain in touch," the ministry added.
The discussion takes place as intense shelling goes on in regions of eastern and southern Ukraine that have been reclaimed by Ukrainian forces from Russian forces. At least 440 remains had been discovered, according to Ukrainian officials, at a mass grave site in the city of Izium in the recently freed Kharkiv region.