Tuesday 24 May 2022 07:28 AM Biden brings up Putin's 'brutal and unjustified invasion' of Ukraine in meeting ... trends now

President Joe Biden called out Russia's 'brutal and unjustified' invasion of Ukraine as he sat side-by-side with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tokyo Tuesday – raising a freighted topic that Modi declined to name specifically in his own remarks.

Biden made the statement hours after referencing the 'dark hour' brought on by Russia's invasion in opening remarks – although those took place with the broader 'Quad' group of four Indo-Pacific leaders.

He made a point to go back to the topic with Modi, amid pressure for India to cut off imports of Russian energy and arms. 

'We also discussed the ongoing effects of Russia's brutal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine and the effect it has on the entire global world order,' Biden said in brief remarks, reading from a sheet with his legs crossed with Modi nearby. 

'And the US and India are going to continue consulting closely on how to mitigate these negative effects,' Biden added. 

Modi didn't address the war in his own public statement, which like Biden's was translated line-by-line. 

'I'm absolutely sure that the entire US friendship will continue to be a force for good for global peace and stability for sustainability of the planet and for human development,' he said. 

Both leaders laced their remarks with diplomatic bromides, amid the difficulties forging common policy on Ukraine. Modi spoke of the 'very positive and useful Quad summit,' and said the U.S. and India share a 'strategic partnership, in the true sense, a partnership of trust.'

The U.S. considers India, the world's largest democracy, a vital ally amid competition from a rising China, setting up a complex relationship in areas far beyond Russia.  

Modi said there was a 'common interest in defense and other matters and our shared values have indeed strengthened this partnership of trust,' but didn't go further into defense matters  – despite Biden bringing up the war in Ukraine repeatedly during his three-day trip to Japan. 

Biden began the last day of his trip to Asia with yet another stark warning about Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine – calling it a 'dark hour' and condemning Putin's effort to 'extinguish' Ukrainian culture. 

'We're navigating the Dark Hour in our shared history,' Biden said at the top of the meeting between the four regional powers, which include the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India.

'The Russian brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe and innocent civilians are killed in the streets and millions of refugees are alternatively displaced as well as exiled,' Biden said.

'And this is more than just a European issue,' Biden underlined. 'It’s a global issue. The fact is that when you turn on the television and you'll see what Russia's doing now, appears to me that Putin is just trying to extinguish the culture.'

'He’s not even aiming at military targets anymore. He's taking out every school every church, every natural history museum. Just to try to obliterate Ukrainian culture. And [the] world has to deal with it and we are,' he said. 

Biden has made similar tough talk domestically, but doing so in Asia communicated to allies in the region – and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular – his push to respond with a united front. 

India has longstanding energy and arms relations with Russia, at a time when the U.S. and other allies are trying to choke off Russian trade through sanctions in response to the invasion. It buys the vast majority of its arms from Moscow.

Its resistance to global calls to cut off Russian oil and gas exports has helped provide a financial lifeline to Putin, who

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