White House on Friday (local time) reiterated that the United States would welcome any effort that could lead to an end of hostilities in Ukraine when asked if there is still time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the war or convince President Vladimir Putin.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, "I think there's still time for Putin to stop the war. I think there's still time for it. I will let PM (PM Modi) speak to whatever efforts he's willing to undertake. The US would welcome any effort that could lead to an end of hostilities in Ukraine."
India has repeatedly called on Russia and Ukraine to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue and end their ongoing conflict.
Prime Minister Modi has spoken to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine on multiple occasions and urged for immediate cessation of hostilities and return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue for the resolution of the conflict.
In his bilateral meeting with Russian President Putin in Uzbekistan on September 16, Modi said "today's era is not of war" and nudged him to end the conflict.
India has not yet criticised the Russian attack on Ukraine and has been maintaining that the crisis should be resolved through dialogue.
Kirby meanwhile blamed President Putin for the Russia-Ukraine war.
He said, "The single person responsible for what the Ukrainian people are going through is Vladimir Putin and he could stop it right now."
"Instead, he's firing cruise missiles into energy and power infrastructure and trying to knock out the lights and knock out the heat so the Ukrainian people suffer even more than they already have," he added.
Kirby, however, said that the end of hostilities should come, "in keeping with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's objectives and leadership, his determination of what is acceptable to the Ukrainian people. Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine."
"So that when President Zelenskyy determines it's time to negotiate and he's the only one that can make that determination he can do it with the strongest hand possible," he added.
Kirby also highlighted US President Joe Biden's efforts to end the devastating war between Russia and Ukraine.
"So President Biden has said these gosh dozens of times. We think this war could end today, should end today," he said.
Speaking about US military aid to Ukraine, he said, "And since he's (President Putin) not willing to do that, clearly we've got to make sure we can help the Ukrainians succeed on the battlefield.
With inuts from PTI
