National

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russian envoy to India Denis Alipov on Wednesday said there is not much ground for negotiation at present. 

Alipov said this in response to a query during an interaction session in the national capital on BRICS and its potential. The session was hosted by Russian state-owned Sputnik news agency.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict, which began in February 2022, entered its 1,000th day on Monday. Asked if Russia would be willing to sit across the table and talk to Ukraine to seek a resolution to this conflict, the envoy said, "Frankly, (we) don't see much grounds for negotiations at the moment."

"What we are prepared for is to sit and talk, provided there is a basis for negotiations," Alipov said.

And that basis should include the ground realities in the first place, interests of Russia from the point of view of security and protection of Russians within Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens of Russian origin, he said.

Star India player Hardik Pandya on Wednesday re-claimed the top spot in the T20I all-rounders' list while rising star and teammate Tilak Varma made a massive jump of 69 rungs to occupy the third place among batters in the latest ICC men's player rankings.

Pandya overtook England dasher Liam Livingstone and Nepal dynamo Dipendra Singh Airee at the top of the T20I all-rounder charts on the back of some strong form during India's recent series in South Africa, with the 31-year-old producing some eye-catching efforts with both bat and ball. His innings of 39 not out in the second game of the four-match series helped balance India's innings, while his spell of 1/8 from three overs during the decisive fourth contest ensured his side claim an impressive 3-1 series triumph.

It is the second time Pandya has held the No.1 ranking for T20I all-rounders, with the consistent India performer first rising to the top at the end of this year's ICC men's T20 World Cup. Pandya wasn't the only India player to make giant strides in the latest rankings update, with Player of the Series and rising player Varma shooting up the batting charts a whopping 69 places following his two centuries and 280 runs for the series against the Proteas.

The rise sees Varma improve to third place overall behind No.1-ranked T20I batter Travis Head and England's Phil Salt and means he is now the highest-rated batter from India, with skipper Suryakumar Yadav dropping one spot to fourth behind him.