Russia welcomes India’s contribution to end Ukraine crisis, Kremlin spokesman says

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks to the media in New Delhi on September 8, 2026. | Photo credit: PTI

A week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his call for an end to the Ukraine-Russia war on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a virtual press interaction with Indian media on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) that the end of a war even takes half a year to end a peace period than four years. Mr Peskov gave a positive outlook for the upcoming BRICS summit to be held in New Delhi on September 12-13, announcing that President Vladimir Putin would hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the summit and welcomed India’s contribution to ending the war.

“We know India’s position on the Ukrainian conflict, and it largely corresponds to our own position, because we want to resolve the Ukrainian conflict through peaceful means, and Russia is open to this process,” Peskov said, adding: “We welcome the willingness of the Indian side to contribute.”

Noting that there are Indian citizens who are on the front line with Ukraine, Mr. Peskov said that Russia has asked for a list of such individuals who India claims were fraudulently lured to fight in Ukraine on Russia’s behalf. “They will be sent back,” Mr. Peskov said. An official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) that there are about 24 Indian nationals who continue to remain in the Russian armed forces and are involved in the Russian-Ukrainian front lines.

Mr Peskov said Mr Modi and Mr Putin would meet on Friday (11 September 2026) ahead of the BRICS summit, adding: “As always, they will touch on the bilateral agenda. Trade and economic cooperation has a very broad scope.” He pointed to calls for sanctions by the US over India’s energy purchases from Russia. “You know that a lot of issues cannot be discussed publicly, because some hostile countries are trying to put obstacles in the further development of our cooperation. So it is discussed discreetly, but very, very constructively,” Peskov said.

India argues that buying Russian oil is a policy that is taken in light of the energy requirements of the Indian people. Mr. Peskov exuded confidence in the increase in bilateral energy trade. “I’m not going to tell you the number. We have a new record every month,” he said. He called the US Russia Sanctions Act, which seeks to impose sanctions on countries that trade energy with Russia, “illegal, unfair, unacceptable.”

On the expectations and challenges ahead of the BRICS summit, which will be chaired by India this time, Mr. Peskov said that BRICS is not “anti-Western” and that it is a grouping of countries that share the same outlook. He also confirmed that President Putin will meet Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the summit. Previously, in May 2026, major differences between Iran and the United Arab Emirates prevented BRICS foreign ministers from meeting in a joint statement, and feelings persist that these differences could derail a joint statement at the summit. Mr. Peskov referred to the hostility between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, saying that Russia is a “good friend” of both countries and that Moscow is ready to contribute to the normalization of relations if necessary.

Published – 8 Sep 2026 16:49 IST