Washington:

The United States wants India to use its “special partnership” with Russia to put “pressure” on Moscow to stop the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and work for a durable peace in the region, US State Department Hindustani spokesperson, Margaret MacLeod said.

The US official also reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s famous quote “This is not an era of war” which the PM had told Russian President Vladimir Putin during the SCO Summit in Bali in 2022.

Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, MacLeod said, “The US is urging all its partners, including India to pressurise Russia for lasting peace in Ukraine. Russia should get out of Ukraine, This is not the era of war, as Prime Minister (PM Modi) has said. “

“India and Russia share a very special partnership. We wish India use this special partnership to pressurise Russia (against the war)…Russia’s war in Ukraine is a violation of the UN Charter,” she added.

Being asked about how the US and the West view India’s stand on the Ukraine conflict, the US official said, “It would be better if you ask the Indian government about India’s stand.”

“But from America’s perspective, Russia is violating the sovereignty of Ukraine. It is attacking the civilian infrastructure. Just yesterday, we saw the attack on children’s hospital, where there were no Ukrainian soldiers…this is against the UN Charter and international law,” she added.

Over 40 children were killed in missile strikes at a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital on Monday. Kyiv has blamed Moscow for the attack.

Regarding the ongoing NATO Summit in Washington DC, MacLeod said the alliance aims to discuss the vision for the next 75 years in this meeting. She also said that announcements of relief packages for Ukraine will be made during the summit.

“At this NATO Summit, we are celebrating 75 years of peace, unity, development and innovation, and will discuss on the preparations for the next 75 years,” the US official said.

“Most NATO members are in Europe, right where the Russia-Ukraine war is ongoing, because of which it is a very serious issue for them (European NATO members)…A big relief package for Ukraine will be announced. We will also get an announcement by Germany for setting up a coordination cell,” she added.

The NATO Summit is being held from July 9-11 in Washington DC.

The summit has come at a crucial time when the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which started in February 2022, has intensified and also when some cracks have emerged in NATO amid scepticism among some European partners and comments by former US President Donald Trump against the alliance.

This is also the first NATO Summit after the inclusion of two new member states — Finland and Sweden.

Speaking on the USD 60 dollar price cap put on the purchase of Russian crude oil, the US official said that the price cap has helped in “reducing” Russia’s earnings and it wants to further lessen the resources at Moscow’s disposal.

“We want to want as less resources as possible to reach Russia because it is using the same earnings to attack Ukraine. The price cap has impacted Russia’s earnings, but as long as it (Russia) is able to earn, it will continue to attack Ukraine…so we want to reduce its gains as much as possible,” MacLeod further said.

Notably, despite pressure from Western countries, India has continued to purchase crude oil from Russia under the price cap, which several government ministers and officials have said, has helped in keeping domestic prices of petrol and diesel stable.

Further, speaking on India-US ties, the US official said that the ties between the two countries is very strong, and added that Washington wants to strengthen its ties with New Delhi further.

“We see there are deep relations between India and the US, we are engaging on so many issues…sometimes we have differences in perspectives, but we have a free, frank and open dialogue with each other. We are very positive about our relationship…our government wants to strengthen our bilateral relationship further,” she said.

Being asked where the India-US relations are headed as it is an election year in the US, MacLeod said she can’t comment on her country’s domestic politics but affirmed that “historically, both parties (Republican and Democrat) have worked to strengthen relations with India.”

Prime Minister Modi went on a state visit to the US in June last year. Following this, President Joe Biden came to India for the G20 Summit last year.

The Quad Summit between the two nations is also expected to be held later this year in India.