Russia Ukraine war: India's Modi admonishes Putin - 'Not an era for war'

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Photo / AP

Vladimir Putin has been publicly upbraided over his invasion of Ukraine by India's prime minister, who told him now "is not an era for war".

In a rare moment of confrontation for the Russian president, Narendra Modi said he had "spoken to you on the phone" about the need to end the war as the two met in Uzbekistan's capital, Samarkand, on Friday.

"I know that today's era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to you on the phone about this," Modi told Putin in televised remarks on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that brought together strongmen leaders from across Asia.

Hearing the remarks, Putin pursed his lips, glanced at the Indian prime minister then looked down at his notes.

In reply, he told Modi he "understood" his concerns and wished to end the war as soon as possible. He said Ukraine had rejected negotiations.

Diplomatic relations with Delhi are increasingly important for Russia, as India has become the second biggest buyer of Russian oil, behind China.

Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi prior to their talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Photo / AP

Putin 'understood' China's war concerns

The Russian leader has been forced onto the backfoot at the SCO summit, where he was hoping to rally support from nations who have not joined the West's sanction regime.

He told Xi Jinping, China's president, that he understood his "concerns" about the war in Ukraine, which has killed thousands and upended global markets.

Observers have noted that Putin lacked his typical aura at the summit.

He was forced to stand and wait for the president of Kyrgyzstan to arrive for their televised meeting, and he faced a repeat as the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left him standing listlessly in front of the cameras for several minutes.

Erdogan, who has made several attempts to mediate between Russia and Ukraine and hosted cease-fire talks in March, was expected to try to persuade the Russian president to sit down with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, for peace talks.

Putin told Russian reporters at the end of his visit to Uzbekistan on Friday that no such discussion was had.

Instead, the Russian president throughout the press conference with Kremlin-approved reporters sought to portray Moscow as an innocent victim of Western machinations.

"They just won't do it," he said of Ukrainians' stance on peace talks. "Mr Zelensky has said publicly… that he's not ready and he won't talk with Russia. So he's not ready? Oh well!"

Asked about staggering Russian losses in the south of Ukraine in recent weeks, Putin insisted the Russian conquest was proceeding as planned.

"Our main goal is to liberate all of the Donbas," he said. "This work is continuing."

He made no mention, however, of the areas Russia occupied in Ukraine's Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions that just weeks before the Ukrainian counter-offensive were poised for a Russian "referendum" on a possible annexation.

Putin also ominously threatened to target more of Ukraine's civilian infrastructure if Ukraine keeps on attacking military targets in the south of Russia.

He claimed that Russian intelligence managed to foil "terrorist plots" to hit areas near nuclear power stations in Russia but did not add further details.

"Our response will be even stronger if the situation continues to develop the way it has been going," he said, referring to Russia's recent retaliatory strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure including a dam in Zelensky's hometown.

Ukrainian officials mock Putin's summit isolation

Ukrainian officials mocked Putin's perceived isolation at the summit in Uzbekistan and made fun of his claims to seek peace after unleashing a brutal war on Ukraine seven months earlier.

"This is the last autumn for Russian autocrats," Mikhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Zelensky, tweeted.

"The solution to the conflict is very simple: an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from all of Ukraine."

In separate comments at the Samarkand summit, Xi said the world had entered a period of turmoil and his fellow leaders should join together to suppress "colour revolutions", a term used to describe pro-democracy movements including Hong Kong's.

"We should support each other's efforts to safeguard security and development interests, prevent external forces from staging colour revolutions, and jointly oppose interference in the internal affairs of other countries under any pretext," Xi said.

Xi stayed away from a dinner attended by 11 heads of state in line with his delegation's Covid policy, a source in the Uzbek government told Reuters. He was also absent from a group photo of the world leaders and another image taken of Putin chatting with Belarus's president, Alexander Lukashenko, and Erdogan on leather sofas in a break from the high-level diplomacy.