U.S. hopes India will use its relationship with Russia to end the war

India has a “long, complex” relationship with Russia and can use this influence to support an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, says Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu

The United States hopes that India will use its relationship with Russia to end the conflict in Ukraine, a senior U.S. diplomat has said, on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We have said before, the Secretary [of State of the U.S., Antony Blinken] has said India has had a long and complicated history with Russia going back to the Cold War days – that is a deep and sustained relationship over many decades,” Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu told reporters on a briefing call on February 24.

“It is our hope that India will use that influence with Russia to support an end to this conflict, and as Foreign Minister Jaishankar has said, end to the conflict according to the principles of the U.N. Charter [on] territorial integrity and sovereignty,” said Mr Lu.

Mr. Blinken is due in New Delhi on March 1 for the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

Prior to his arrival in India, he will visit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for a meeting of the C5+ 1 (i.e., these countries, plus the U.S., Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) in Astana on February 28.

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In response to a question on whether Mr Blinken will try and convince India and the Central Asian countries to align more with the U.S. on the Ukraine conflict, Mr. Lu described India and the Central Asian countries as having “long, complex” relations with Russia.