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By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: India and China could have directly told Russia that they did not approve any use of nuclear weapons by Moscow in Ukraine, according to US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
“India and China have more influence on Russia and this could have helped stalling use of nuclear weapons on the battlefield,” said Secretary Blinken in an interview he gave to The Atlantic.
“We urged, and I think successfully, other countries that might have a little bit more influence with Russia these days, like China, but also other countries like India, to engage him [Putin] directly about their absolute opposition to any use of nuclear weapons. And we know that they conveyed those messages, and I think that had some effect. Something we always have to look at, but again, the track record to date suggests that the escalation that some feared has, at least to now, not happened,” said Blinken.
Both India and China have refrained from condemning Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine but have called for dialogue and peaceful negotiations for a resolution.
Blinken is travelling to India to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers meet in Delhi (March 1st and 2nd) and so is Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Meanwhile, Blinken acknowledged that India and Russia had a long relationship with Russia, but things were moving favourably between India and US now too.
“India for decades had Russia at the core providing military equipment to it and its defenses, but what we’ve seen over the last few years is a trajectory away from relying on Russia and moving into partnership with us and with other countries like France,” he added.
NEW DELHI: India and China could have directly told Russia that they did not approve any use of nuclear weapons by Moscow in Ukraine, according to US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
“India and China have more influence on Russia and this could have helped stalling use of nuclear weapons on the battlefield,” said Secretary Blinken in an interview he gave to The Atlantic.
“We urged, and I think successfully, other countries that might have a little bit more influence with Russia these days, like China, but also other countries like India, to engage him [Putin] directly about their absolute opposition to any use of nuclear weapons. And we know that they conveyed those messages, and I think that had some effect. Something we always have to look at, but again, the track record to date suggests that the escalation that some feared has, at least to now, not happened,” said Blinken.
Both India and China have refrained from condemning Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine but have called for dialogue and peaceful negotiations for a resolution.
Blinken is travelling to India to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers meet in Delhi (March 1st and 2nd) and so is Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Meanwhile, Blinken acknowledged that India and Russia had a long relationship with Russia, but things were moving favourably between India and US now too.
“India for decades had Russia at the core providing military equipment to it and its defenses, but what we’ve seen over the last few years is a trajectory away from relying on Russia and moving into partnership with us and with other countries like France,” he added.
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