‘Meeting of two close friends’: Russian President Putin hosts PM Modi at Novo-Ogaryovo for private dinner

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence at Novo-Ogaryovo for a private engagement on Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin will hold extensive talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, both one-on-one and with delegations, a top Russian official said on Monday.

"Around noon, Putin and Modi will start talking. We expect that there will be a private conversation, as well as Russian-Indian talks over an official breakfast,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the state-owned TASS news agency.

On Tuesday, Modi will co-chair the 22nd India-Russia annual summit with President Putin.

The two leaders, however, will not make any statements to the press afterwards, the Kremlin spokesman added.

"Solution can't be found on the battlefield. This is also based on interactions, especially with the global south," an official source said, regarding the Ukraine-Russia conflict, emphasizing that this view is likely to be conveyed during the summit.

Prime Minister Modi will hold in-person meetings with President Putin for 8-9 hours during his nearly 24-hour stay in Russia, they said.

Prime Minister Modi will be conferred with Russia's highest state decoration, the Order of St. Andrew, on Tuesday. It was announced in 2019.

Modi arrived in Russia on Monday on his first trip to Russia since the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The focus of the 22nd India-Russia annual summit is likely to be boosting bilateral cooperation in the areas of energy, security, trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges. The Ukraine conflict is set to figure in the discussions.

It is Modi's first trip to Russia since 2019, the first after the start of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022 and the first in Modi's third term as the prime minister.

The annual summit between the prime minister of India and the president of Russia is the highest institutional dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The annual summits are held alternatively in India and Russia.

The last summit was held on December 6, 2021, in New Delhi. President Putin had visited India to attend the summit.