Vladimir Putin has been scolded by a fellow world leader in a televised meeting.
The 73-year-old was at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, on Monday, where he sat down for a sideline meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Every day of war sets humanity back, whereas every step taken towards peace fills humanity with new hope and enthusiasm,” the leader of the world’s most populous country said.
“We need to move from an endless war to the end of the war, to the cessation of hostilities,” he added.
“And this is precisely the direction we must move. This is extremely important for all of humanity. We must resolve problems through peaceful means.”
He added that the “peaceful resolution to all issues at the earliest is the call of humanity, and this is India’s message. The land of Gandhi and Buddha shares a single message: the path of peace.”
Putin looked away as Modi spoke, The Daily Mail reported, before removing his translation earpiece and saying “Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister. We are moving in that direction.”
Putin also praised 75-year-old Modi’s “personal attention to the development of Russian-Indian relations” and to the personal relationship between the two men.
It was the 25th year of the SCO summit, which brought together leaders from Russia, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and host Kyrgyzstan.
It is designed to counterbalance Western hegemony and, by land area, is the world’s largest regional organization, with its member states making up nearly a quarter of the world’s landmass and 42 percent of the global population.
But despite the two men’s words, the war in Ukraine appears to be doing anything but letting up.
Thousands of troops are believed to be being killed and wounded every week on the frontline, while in cities on either side, drones and missiles rain down, destroying oil refineries, e-commerce centers and homes.
Meanwhile, in Russia, reports suggest Putin has become increasingly isolated and reliant on his FSB security services as he scrambles to keep power.
Popular support for the war is thought to have diminished, but fears remain that after the fall’s state Duma elections there could be another effort from the Kremlin to launch a new mobilization push—code for the press ganging of thousands to go and fight in Ukraine.
In August, Putin didn’t suggest Russia was heading toward peace, telling the ruling party, United Russia, in a speech that “The special military operation continues,” and that “We will move only forward.”
That is a mindset that Putin believes he must take, according to a new report from The Economist, which cited a source who said Putin confided in his top lackeys, saying “they’ll hang me” if he doesn’t achieve his basic aim in Ukraine, which is securing the Donbas region.
That conquest has slowed to a stalemate, which the same report suggests could lead Putin to escalate elsewhere in Europe to create the impression of progress for those inside Russia.
