Modi, who arrived in the Chinese port city of Tianjin earlier on Saturday for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, also said he extended India’s “full support” during his telephone call with Zelensky.

“We exchanged views on the ongoing conflict, its humanitarian aspect, and efforts to restore peace and stability,” Modi said in a social media post.

“India extends full support to all efforts in this direction,” he added.

Modi is set to meet Putin on Monday on the sidelines of the summit which would be attended by leaders from more than 20 countries.

New Delhi has longstanding ties with Moscow that have persisted despite India’s courtship of closer security partnerships with Washington and other Western allies.

The balancing act has seen Delhi avoid condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine and instead propose itself as an intermediary.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes.

Zelensky, on his part, said he held “productive and important conversation” with Modi during which he reaffirmed Ukraine’s readiness for a meeting with Putin.

“India is ready to make the necessary efforts and to deliver the appropriate signal to Russia and other leaders during the meetings on the sidelines of the summit,” he said in a post on X.

Despite a recent flurry of international efforts to broker a truce, efforts to end the war appear to have lost steam, with Moscow playing down the likelihood of a Putin-Zelensky summit.