Expressing “deep concern” for the safety and security of Indian students still in Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday and sought their support for safe and quick evacuation of Indians from the city of Sumy in north-east Ukraine, official sources said.
Modi’s conversation with Putin, the third since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, lasted 50 minutes. He urged the Russian President to hold direct talks with Zelenskyy in addition to the ongoing negotiations between their teams, sources said.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said President Putin briefed the Prime Minister about the ongoing measures related to humanitarian corridors for facilitating evacuation of civilians including Indian students.
Earlier, Russian authorities said a ceasefire would begin Monday and “humanitarian corridors” would open in key Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Sumy.
Situated about 350 km east of Kyiv and 180 km north-west of Kharkiv, Sumy is now at the centre of India’s evacuation efforts from the war zone. About 700 Indians, mostly students of Sumy State University, are stranded in the city.
