As India Joins China in Distancing From Russia, Putin Warns of Escalation

By Anton Troianovski, Mujib Mashal and Julian E. Barnes 

As India joins China in distancing itself from Russia, Putin warns of escalation

After India's prime minister said now was not the time for war, an increasingly isolated Mr Putin threatened "more serious" action in Ukraine, insisting he was ready for talks.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met President Vladimir V Putin on Friday, told the Russian president that "today's era is not one of war".

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met President Vladimir V Putin on Friday, told the Russian president that "today's era is not one of war".

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscored Russia's widening isolation on the world stage, telling President Vladimir V. Putin on Friday that it was not time for war — even as the Russian president threatened to escalate the brutality of his campaign in Ukraine.

Mr Modi's televised criticism at a regional summit in Uzbekistan came just a day after Mr Putin acknowledged Chinese leader Xi Jinping had "questions and concerns" about the war.

Overall, the distancing from Mr Putin by the heads of the world's two most populous countries - both of which have been key to keeping Russia's economy afloat in the face of Western sanctions - has undermined the Kremlin's message that Russia is far from a global pariah.

"I know that today is not a time of war," Mr. Modi told Mr. Putin at the start of their meeting, describing global challenges such as the food and energy crises that have hit developing countries particularly hard. "Today we will have the opportunity to discuss how we can move forward on the path of peace."

Implicit criticism of Mr. Putin underscored that he now faces perhaps his most challenging moment in months, suffering not only from these diplomatic setbacks but also battlefield retreats and mounting questions at home about how he has waged the war.

But Mr Putin's next steps remain a mystery, and Western officials believe he could still drastically escalate the intensity of Russia's attack if faced with further defeats.

The remains of destroyed Russian military vehicles on the outskirts of the recently recaptured city of Balakliya, Ukraine, on Thursday.

The remains of destroyed Russian military vehicles on the outskirts of the recently recaptured city of Balakliya, Ukraine, on Thursday.

At a press conference on Friday after a summit of Asian leaders, Mr Putin described recent Russian cruise missile attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure as "warning strikes" that could presage an even more insidious campaign.

At the same time - apparently aware of unease among key partners such as China and India - Mr Putin insisted he was open to talks without naming any preconditions and that his war aims were not necessarily all of Ukraine. On Friday, he did not mention the broader goals of "demilitarization" and "denazification" of Ukraine that he announced when he launched the war in February - terms that were widely seen as Mr. Putin's declaration of his intention to achieve political control of the entire country. .

He said the "main objective" of his invasion was limited to capturing Donbass - the eastern Ukrainian region where Russia has recognized two Kremlin-backed states as independent, but where Ukraine still controls several key cities and towns.

War condition

Dramatic gains for Ukraine: After Ukraine's offensive in the country's northeast drove Russian forces into a chaotic retreat, Ukrainian leaders face critical choices about how far to push the offensive.

In Izium: After the Russian retreat, Ukrainian investigators began documenting the toll of the Russian occupation of the northeastern city. They have already found several burial sites, including one that could contain the remains of more than 400 people.

Southern Counteroffensive: Military operations in the south were a grueling battle for river crossings, with pontoon bridges as the main targets for both sides. Ukraine has made progress so far.

Inferno in Mykolaiv: The southern Ukrainian city has been the target of almost constant shelling since the beginning of the war. Firefighters risk their lives to save as many as possible.

But Mr Putin claimed that Ukraine was trying to carry out "terrorist acts" inside Russia and that Moscow was ready to retaliate.

"We are indeed reacting somewhat restrainedly, but that's it for now," Putin said. "If the situation continues to develop in this way, the response will be more serious."

Ukraine has admitted attacking military targets on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014 in violation of international law, but the government in Kyiv says it is not attacking civilians.

In Ukraine, the consequences of the Russian war were already devastating. A low-flying salvo damaged a dam in the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Roh on Wednesday, sparking fears of flooding. In the northeastern town of Izium, which Ukrainian forces liberated in recent days, authorities said they found a burial ground with a mass grave and 445 fresh individual graves.

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On Friday, investigators began exhuming bodies from 445 individual graves and one mass grave in Izio.

On Friday, investigators began exhuming bodies from 445 individual graves and one mass grave in Izio.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, said on Friday that Russian forces had brought "unbridled terror, violence, torture and mass murder" to the territory they occupied in Ukraine, rejecting the possibility of negotiating a compromise to end it. war.

"We have no right to leave people alone with Evil," Mr. Podolyak said on Twitter. "Conflict resolution" is very simple. Immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the entire territory of Ukraine.

Biden threatens "follow-up" response if Russia switches to unconventional weapons.

The war has reduced Ukraine's grain stocks by nearly 15 percent, the report said

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Still, Mr. Putin has repeatedly warned that the Russian offensive could still intensify — a threat now weighing on U.S. officials who believe Mr. Putin could increase the size of Russian forces stationed in Ukraine or launch attacks against NATO countries that provide weapons to Ukraine. Officials also say Russia could put new pressure on Ukraine