US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during the US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue at the State Department in Washington, DC Monday. (Michael McCoy/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
Joining India’s foreign and defense ministers on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered a strong message of support for Ukraine.
Blinken noted that the United States would continue to call on nations to support Kyiv “just as we call on all nations to condemn Moscow’s increasingly brutal crackdown.”
Commenting at a press conference following the US-India 2+2 ministerial meeting in Washington, Blinken said, “Russia’s war on Ukraine is an attack on the Ukrainian people. It is also an attack on this rules-based order that we both adhere to and defend.”
The United States, Blinken said, “will continue to increase its support for the government and people of Ukraine and call on other nations to do the same, just as we call on all nations to condemn Moscow’s increasingly brutal crackdown.”
Blinken declared that Russia’s war “stands in stark contrast to the vision shared by the United States and India for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” noting that Moscow’s actions had global ramifications.
India has continued to buy Russian oil after the war in Ukraine and last week abstained in a vote to remove Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.
The US Secretary of State also said on Monday that “India must make its own decisions on how to address the Russian war in Ukraine and that the US believes that “it is important that all countries, especially those with influence, Urging Putin to end the war.”
“We are generally consulting with all our allies and partners on the aftermath of Putin’s war and the atrocities being committed against the Ukrainian people,” Blinken said at the press conference after the US-India 2+2 ministerial meeting.
Blinken said it’s important that “democracies stand together and speak with one voice to defend the values that we share — and we deeply share the values of freedom, openness, independence, sovereignty, and those values must apply everywhere.”
The top US diplomat noted that “India’s relationship with Russia has evolved over decades, at a time when the United States was unable to be India’s partner,” but “times have changed” and the US “is able and willing to be a partner of choice with India.”
“And I would also like to note that India is providing significant humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine, especially medicines, which are very needed and very much in demand,” he added.
Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said India was “opposed to the conflict” and “in favor of dialogue and diplomacy” and the “urgent end to the violence”.
“We are ready to contribute in any way to these goals,” he said.
Blinken said: “When it comes to oil purchases, sanctions, etc., I would just like to note that there are carve-outs for energy purchases. Of course, we encourage countries not to buy additional energy supplies from Russia.”
“Each country is set up differently, has different needs and requirements, but we expect allies and partners not to increase their purchases of Russian energy,” Blinken said.
On oil, Jaishankar said the world should look to Europe and suggested that Europe buys more Russian oil than India.
Blinken said President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “had a very warm and productive conversation” and “on Russia and Ukraine, they discussed ways to mitigate the profound impact this is having on the global food supply and prices and commodity markets and are working together to achieve that.”
Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who also attended the event, spoke about the importance of the US and India staying on the same page.
“As strategic threats converge, particularly in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it is more important than ever that ‘the US and India’ stand together to defend our shared values and uphold the international rules-based order,” Austin said.