Russia took a neutral view of the Doklam issue and refused to be persuaded by Beijing's efforts to malign India. Moscow's attitude to the issue would have an influence on India-Russia relations, and on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's role at the BRICS summit , which will be attended by leaders of five countries -Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa--in the coastal Chinese city of Xiamen on Sunday.

Russia's neutrality was evident in comments made by the Russian ambassador in Beijing, Andrey Denisov, hours before India and China entered into an agreement to pull out troops and defuse the Doklam crisis+ on August 28.

"The situation in the India-China border is something that we all regret," Denisov told Russian journalists at a briefing in Beijing. "We think our Chinese and Indian friends can resolve the problem by themselves. We don't think they need any mediators who can influence their respective positions on the issue," the ambassador was quoted by the Russian media as saying.

"We can say that Russia is using its goodwill to both of these countries," he said signaling total neutrality.

Denisov's statement shows that two weeks of efforts by Chinese envoys to build a diplomatic front against India on the border issue was not having an impact even on Russia which is regarded to be closer to China compared to several western nations. The ambassador also indicated that Russia has played a role in world affairs whenever it could do so.

"The history of 20th century shows that every time our country had an opportunity to play a positive role (in settling international disputes, we did it," Denisov said, according to a translation of his comments available to TNN.

The Prime Minister is expected to meet both Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin besides leaders from Brazil and South Africa during the meeting.

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