New Delhi, Apr. 1: Acknowledging that the meeting between the Indian and Russian Foreign Ministers were taking place in a “difficult international environment”, External Affairs minister S Jaishankar said New Delhi has “always been in favour of resolving differences and disputes through dialogue and diplomacy”.

According to the Indian Media, Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, during the meeting, said “friendship is the key word” in the history of Indian and Russian bilateral relations. Alluding to the British and American interlocutors in the last few days, he said that “our western colleagues would like to reduce a meaningful international issue to the crisis in Ukraine”.

“You know our position and we do not hide anything…we appreciate that India is taking this situation in the entirety of facts, and not in a one-sided way,” Lavrov said, as the two Foreign Ministers began their meeting.

He added that Russia is looking at a “multipolar world”, while referring to Jaishankar’s remarks on Thursday during a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

Lavrov is in New Delhi for a two-day official visit that kicked off on Thursday. This is his first trip to the country since Moscow invaded Ukraine last month.

Russian Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Lavrov will also meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had issued a one-line statement to announce the visit. “Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Mr. Sergey Lavrov will pay an official visit to New Delhi on 31 March -1 April 2022,” it said.

The focus of Lavrov’s visit to New Delhi is expected to be on India’s purchase of discounted Russian crude oil and putting in place a rupee-ruble payment system for bilateral trade in view of the Western sanctions against Moscow, sources said.

During the talks, India is also likely to press for ensuring timely delivery of various military hardware as well as components for the S-400 missile systems by Russia.

Lavrov began a two-day visit to China on Wednesday primarily to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of countries bordering Afghanistan that has been convened by Beijing to discuss the Afghan crisis.

The Russian foreign minister’s visit to India coincided with that of US Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and German Foreign and Security Policy Advisor Jens Plotner.

Truss visited India on March 31 while Singh was in India from March 30-31. Plotner was in Delhi on March 30.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, March 2 and March 7.

Modi had spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy twice. Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Parliament that India’s position on the Ukraine conflict has been “steadfast and consistent” and that it has been seeking immediate cessation of violence.