Russia says Modi, Xi offered help on Ukraine as Trump struggles to break deadlock — SkimNews
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- Russia's Kremlin said PM Modi and Xi Jinping offered to help facilitate peace talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, with President Putin "welcoming their readiness" per spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
- Trump's repeated efforts to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal have yet to break the deadlock — despite his recent phone call with Putin urging a swift end to the war and a Moscow-Kyiv visit by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner that yielded no tangible breakthrough.
- India has emerged as a potential bridge between the two sides — it maintains working ties with both Russia and Ukraine and depends heavily on discounted Russian oil, with analyst Srinivaasan Balakrishnan of the Indic Researchers Forum telling South China Morning Post that "India has the rare ability to talk to Moscow, Tehran and the West all at once."
- Modi has escalated his public messaging to Putin — at the SCO Summit in Bishkek last month he urged a shift from "endless war" to "end of war," and on Friday told Putin that "dialogue and diplomacy" was "the way forward" with India "ready to assist in peace efforts."
- Russia is preparing for its first parliamentary election since the Ukraine conflict began, scheduled September 18-20, with Putin's United Russia party expected to retain dominance in Parliament.
- A first Putin-Zelensky face-to-face meeting since the war began could happen as early as December at the G20 Summit in Miami, with Zelensky saying he is ready to travel if Putin attends.
Why it matters: The BRICS offer positions India as an intermediary Washington can't replicate: New Delhi maintains working ties with both Moscow and Kyiv and is a real buyer of discounted Russian oil. With Trump's envoys returning from Moscow empty-handed and Russia's September 18-20 parliamentary election approaching, the diplomatic window is narrowing before domestic politics in Russia hardens Moscow's position.
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