External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the Ukraine conflict and also the situation in Afghanistan in a brief discussion held on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bali on Friday.

"Discussed bilateral matters of mutual interest. Also exchanged views on contemporary regional and international issues including the Ukraine conflict and Afghanistan," tweeted Jaishankar after the meeting.

In a statement, Moscow said that the mutual disposition to further expand Russian-Indian contacts at all levels was reaffirmed by the two ministers.

"Priority issues on the bilateral agenda, as well as current international and regional issues, including in the context of the situation in Ukraine, were discussed," said the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday afternoon.

(Image courtesy: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia)

Over the past few months, both Jaishankar and Lavrov have repeatedly assessed the overall state of cooperation considering the implications of recent developments in Ukraine on trade and economic relations.

During his visit to New Delhi on April 1, Lavrov had also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, briefing him on the situation in Ukraine, including the ongoing peace negotiations. During the meeting, PM Modi had reiterated his call for an early cessation of violence, and conveyed India's readiness to contribute in any way to the peace efforts.

The Russian Foreign Minister had also updated Prime Minister Modi on the progress of decisions taken during the India-Russia bilateral Summit held in December 2021.

Moscow has also emphasised that it remains grateful to New Delhi for its "objective assessment of the Ukrainian events".

"India does not support attempts to isolate Russia in multilateral forums and is critical of the West's wish to reduce the international agenda to the conflict in question, ignoring other key global and regional problems, which the West itself has exacerbated significantly. The pressure exerted by the West, aggressively imposing its conditions about who one can and cannot be friends with, causes the rejection of such diktat," Denis Alipov, the Russian Ambassador to India, said in an interview earlier this week.

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