Ukrainian minister accuses India of benefiting from its "suffering"

New Delhi: Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba criticised India for importing cheap Russian oil and called it "morally inappropriate." He said the opportunity for India to buy Russian oil at a cheap price comes from Ukrainians suffering and dying from Russian aggression every day.

Speaking to NDTV, he added that India should help Ukraine more because the country is benefitting from Ukraine's suffering.

Addressing Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar's statement about the European Union (EU) importing more fossil fuel from Russia than the next 10 countries combined, Kuleba said it is not enough to point fingers at the EU and say they are doing the same thing. He demanded that India's decision to import cheap Russian oil needs to be seen through the prism of human suffering in Ukraine.

He claimed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a key role to play in helping to end the war.

"India is a very important player in the global arena and the Prime Minister of India, with his voice, can make a change. New Delhi needs to be direct in referring to the situation in Ukraine. We are waiting for the moment when Indian foreign policy will call spade a spade, and name the conflict - not 'war in Ukraine', but what it is, a 'Russian aggression against Ukraine," he told NDTV.

He added that it is important that New Delhi make a "concerted effort" because "if you don't try, nothing can change."

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