In 2023, Russia had emerged as India's top oil supplier. India has strong economic and defence ties with Russia and has refrained from criticising Moscow over its war with Ukraine.
The concert hall attack in Moscow on March 22, the deadliest on Russian soil in two decades, claimed the lives of 145 people for which the Islamic State took responsibility. Four gunmen were arrested on Saturday, out of whom three have admitted their guilt amid alleged torture.
According to the relatives of the victims, they were taken to Russia by a recruitment agency with the promise of a whopping salary of Rs 2.5 lakh.
This is the first communication between the two leaders since they held a high-level meeting in California last November. Biden raised concerns over human rights abuses in China, Taiwan, South China Sea and Beijing's defence relationship with Russia in his call with Xi.
All Russian men from 18-30 have one year of mandatory military service, although many find ways to avoid serving. The maximum age for conscripts was raised from 27 to 30 in July 2023.
Kuleba arrived in New Delhi on Thursday for a two-day visit to boost bilateral ties and cooperation with India, which considers Russia a time-tested ally from the Cold War era. Besides, he emphasised his visit to the upcoming peace summit in Switzerland.
Putin's remarks came as Russian forces had recently breached Poland's airspace while targeting the border region of Ukraine. This triggered speculations about whether the Kremlin is now planning to target the NATO nations.
The Ministry of External Affairs said the Ukrainian leader will meet several top Indian leaders including Jaishankar and Deputy NSA during his two-day visit to India. Besides, Kuleba will also meet the business community in an attempt to rebuild the war-torn nation.
Reaffirming that the terrorist attack at the concert hall in Moscow was carried out by ISIS at Crocus, the United States said that there is no evidence that the Ukrainian government had anything to do with this attack. watch to know more!
In a video post shared on a social media platform, Kuleba confirmed his visit to India next week. His visit would mark one of the first official visits of a top Ukrainian leader since Russia escalated a war in February 2022.
Russian authorities arrested the four suspected attackers Saturday, with seven more people detained on suspicion of involvement in the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address to the nation Saturday night.
Although the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility, Putin did not mention ISIS in his speech to the nation, and Kyiv accused him and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the attack.
Militant Islamist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday's rampage, but there were indications that Russia was pursuing a Ukrainian link, despite emphatic denials from Ukrainian officials that Kyiv had anything to do with it.
The latest development came as Moscow launched air strikes on Kyiv and the western Ukrainian region of Lviv on Sunday, officials said, prompting neighbouring Poland's armed forces to activate aircraft to ensure airspace safety near the border.
The responsibility of the attack was claimed by the Islamic State group in a statement released on affiliated channels on social media, which couldn't be independently verified.
Residents of Kyiv were woken up by loud explosions around 5 am as the missiles arrived at roughly the same time from different directions, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Administration.
PM Modi also assured President Zelenskyy of strengthening the relations between India and Ukraine besides promising support for peace and bringing an early end to the ongoing conflict.
The details were independently confirmed by four other sources, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Another of the sources said Putin's trip to China would probably take place in the second half of May.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Kuleba is expected to seek India's support for a peace summit that is being planned in Switzerland within the next couple of months.
Putin sealed his control over Russia for six more years on Monday with a highly orchestrated landslide in an election that followed the harshest crackdown on the opposition and free speech since Soviet times.
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