Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tianjin, at a time when India’s relations with the United States are under strain over New Delhi’s purchase of Russian crude oil.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the Chinese port city, against the backdrop of what is seen as one of the most testing phases in India-US ties in over two decades.

In the talks, Modi said, "We welcome all recent efforts to usher peace in Ukraine and hope that all the concerned sides will progress constructively," adding that "it is the call of humanity to end the conflict of Ukraine at the earliest."

"Find ways to usher permanent peace into the region," he said.

The two leaders also discussed cooperation in the economy, finance and energy, and expressed satisfaction with the steady progress of relations in these areas, according to an Indian statement.

Modi added that India looks forward to Putin’s visit later this year for summit-level discussions. "India and Russia always progressed shoulder-to-shoulder even during tough moments," Modi said, stressing that close ties between the two countries are vital to global peace, stability and prosperity.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a release, "The two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global issues, including the current developments related to Ukraine."

It added, "The prime minister reaffirmed his backing for the latest actions which have been taken to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, and stressed the importance of accelerating a stop to the conflict, and establishing a lasting peace settlement."

The statement also noted that both leaders reconfirmed their commitment to further strengthen the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia.

In a symbolic gesture, Modi and Putin rode together in a limousine to the venue of their bilateral meeting.

"Those two leaders prolonged their one-to-one conversation while driving to the hotel where they were supposed to be joined by their teams."

"But when they arrived at the hotel, they did not disembark from the limousine of Russian president and prolonged the conversation by 50 minutes," Russian national radio station VestiFM reported.

At the SCO summit, Putin blamed repeated Western attempts to draw Ukraine into NATO as one of the main triggers of the war.

Defending Moscow’s invasion, he said the crisis stemmed from the "coup d'etat in Kiev in 2014, provoked by the West," according to Russian news agency Tass.

"The second reason for the crisis is the relentless efforts of the West to involve Ukraine in the NATO alliance. As we have already stressed on many occasions, this directly endangers Russia's security," he added.

In February 2014, violence between security forces and protesters in Kyiv forced then-president Viktor Yanukovych to step down.

"Because of the coup in 2014, the political leadership of the country that was not in favour of Ukraine's membership in NATO was ousted," Putin said.

Putin arrived in China to take part in the 10-member bloc’s meeting. His presence underscored Russia-Ukraine tensions, the faltering US push for a ceasefire, and Washington’s pressure on India through steep tariffs over its oil imports from Moscow.