New Delhi: India has reiterated its stand on dialogue and diplomacy being the way out and welcomed the attempt at peace as the much-anticipated summit between US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska ended inconclusively, with no indication that Moscow will stop its war in Ukraine.

"India welcomes the Summit meeting in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Their leadership in the pursuit of peace is highly commendable," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement, in which it also said the following:

"India appreciates the progress made in the Summit. The way forward can only be through dialogue and diplomacy. The world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine."

The talks between the two leaders ended after only two-and-a-half hours, with many having expected discussions to stretch to six-seven hours.

Crucially, while Trump has told Fox News' Sean Hannity that he would hold off on imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil after the talks, there is a cloud over the future of India, on whom Trump imposted 25% tariff on US imports for crude purchases from Russia. This takes India's total tariff imposition to 50%.

Two days ago, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent had said that Trump might increase secondary tariffs on India if this meeting did not go to plan – something the Ministry of External Affairs downplayed.

Seemingly little progress was made during the talks over bringing an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Trump used the presidents' joint press conference to admit that there were a "few points we could not agree on."

"Some of the points are not so significant and one is very significant," Trump told a press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. "There are a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite got there on, but we’ve made some headway."

"There's no deal until there's a deal," he added, according to Reuters.

"I will call up NATO, the various people I think are important, and of course President Zelenskyy, and tell him about the meeting," he said.

No questions were allowed during the presser.

Reading from his notes, Putin said that the relationship between the US and Russia had fallen to an all-time low under the previous US administration.

"President Trump and I have good direct contact," Putin said. "We have spoken many times. We have spoken frankly on the phone. One of the central issues was the issue around Ukraine."

In the Hannity interview, New York Times reported, Trump mused about a three-way summit between himself, Zelensky and Putin but said explicitly, “I didn’t ask about it.” Then, 20 minutes later, Trump said he had in fact discussed that with Putin. “They both want me there,” Trump said. “And I will be there.”

With inputs from DW's live blog. 

Note: This article was updated with India's reaction at 4.36 pm on August 16, 2025.

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