"Democracies Need To Stand Together": Top US Official To NDTV On Russia

"Democracies need to stand together and evolve their position vis-a-vis Russia because of the choices Putin has made," US official Victoria Nuland said.

Hours after US President Joe Biden's comment that India is an exception among Washington's allies with its "shaky" response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a top American official has said democracies need to "stand together and evolve their position".

Biden yesterday made the comment while praising the US-led alliance, including NATO, the European Union and key Asian partners, for its united front against Russian President Vladimir Putin. But in the Quad - which comprises India, Australia, Japan and US - India continues to buy Russian oil and has refused to join votes condemning Moscow at the UN.

"Democracies need to stand together and evolve their position vis-a-vis Russia because of the choices Putin has made. Democracies must stand against autocracies like Russia and China," US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, told NDTV in an exclusive interview, adding that this was conveyed to New Delhi.

"We know about the historic relationship and defence relationship between India and Russia at a time when the US was not prepared to have that kind of relationship. But times have changed. They've changed in terms of the US and European willingness to be strong defence and security partners with India. We are doing more together in the Indo-Pacific. But times have also changed in terms of the level of brutality and violation of international humanitarian law that we are seeing," Ms Nuland said.