‘Putin doesn’t respect you': Zelensky flags India-Russia trade amid conflict

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday accused India of helping sustain Russia’s “war economy” through purchases of crude oil, even as he called on New Delhi to take on a greater role in ensuring the success of Kyiv’s ongoing peace efforts.

A Russian strike on Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital that coincided with the start of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow last month made it clear that President Vladimir Putin does not respect India or its leader, Zelensky said while briefing the media after his talks with Modi.

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India has “global influence [as] a very big country...and a very big influence on the Russian economy. Today, you have it, and it’s true because really a lot of export possibilities for Russia [were] closed but India is open,” he said.

Zelensky said he spoke openly with Modi about India’s oil purchases from Russia, which is generating billions of dollars that help fund Russia’s military.

“It’s about billions which are coming back, which Putin...uses it only because he has now really, officially, a war economy,” Zelensky said. “So, he [Putin] has to feel how war is expensive, and his society has to feel it.”