US welcomes any effort to end hostilities in Ukraine: White House on PM Modi's remarks

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby (Image: AP)

The White House has reiterated that the US would welcome any effort that could lead to an end of hostilities in Ukraine when asked if there is still time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the war or convince President Vladimir Putin.

"I think there's still time for Putin to stop the war. I will let PM (PM Modi) speak to whatever efforts he's willing to undertake. The US would welcome any effort that could lead to an end of hostilities in Ukraine," news agency ANI quoted White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

On the sidelines of the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, PM Modi stressed on India's effort towards global peace. "Today's era is not of war and I have spoken to you about it on the call. Today we will get the opportunity to talk about how we can progress on the path of peace." He spoke about this during a bilateral meeting in Uzbekistan's Samarkand, according to ANI.

Modi's statement was accepted by world leaders and was praised by international media. His words, "today's era is not of war", became a part of the outcome statement of the G20 joint declaration at Bali in Indonesia.

Kirby blamed President Putin for the Russia-Ukraine war. "The single person responsible for what the Ukrainian people are going through is Vladimir Putin and he could stop it right now."

"Instead, he's firing cruise missiles into energy and power infrastructure and trying to knock out the lights and knock out the heat so the Ukrainian people suffer even more than they already have," he said.

Kirby said that the end of hostilities should come in keeping with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's objectives and leadership, his determination of what is acceptable to the Ukrainian people. "Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," he said. "So that when President Zelenskyy determines it's time to negotiate and he's the only one that can make that determination he can do it with the strongest hand possible."