8 Sep 2025 : Asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the SCO Summit in China meant sanctions on Russia backfiring, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky backed the idea of the United States to put tariffs on countries who have trade ties with Moscow, calling it a “right idea”.
“I think the idea to put tariffs on countries who continue to make deals with Russia is a right idea,” Zelensky said in an interview with ABC News, when asked about the Modi-Putin meeting.
The interviewer had asked Zelensky, “You saw the meeting this week though between Modi, and Putin and Xi… President Trump has said they have gone to the dark side with China…when you saw Modi there, who has helped Russia, so did the plan backfire of trying to put the sanctions on them.”
Asked about the red carpet welcome for Putin for his meeting with Trump last month in US’s Alaska, Zelensky said “it’s a pity that Ukraine was not there”.
“Trump gave Putin what he wanted… he wanted to meet the US President… Putin wanted to show everybody that he is there,” Zelensky said, rejecting the invite by the Russian president to come to Moscow for talks. ”He can come to Kyiv… I can’t go to Moscow when my country is under missiles,” Zelensky added.
PM Modi at SCO Summit
PM Modi was recently in China’s Tianjin to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian premier Vladimir Putin.
Powerful visuals showing bonhomie between the three leaders went viral from the meet that came amid tensions over tariffs imposed on trading partners by the United States administration led by Donald Trump.
India faces 50 per cent tariffs, of which 25 per cent was imposed by Donald Trump first followed by an additional 25 per cent “penalty” for New Delhi for Russian oil purchase.
US President Donald Trump last week said India and Russia appear to have been “lost” to “darkest” China, following the SCO Summit.
Sharing a photo of Modi-Xi-Putin trio, Trump wrote: “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!”
Summary: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted to the Modi-Putin camaraderie at the SCO Summit, stating that U.S. tariffs on Russia were the right strategic decision.