- Saturday, April 27, 2024
The diplomat’s visit takes place days after Indian prime minister Narendra Modi held talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy over phone.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE foreign minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, on Thursday (28) reached New Delhi on a two-day visit and said he aimed at advancing the war-ravaged east European nation’s vision of the path to peace and strengthening ties with India.
Taking on social media X, he said, “Building on the dialogue between (Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy) and (Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi), we will pay specific attention to the peace formula.”
He said he reached India on the invitation of his counterpart in New Delhi, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
I began my visit to New Delhi upon @DrSJaishankar’s invitation.
The Ukrainian-Indian cooperation is important and we will be reinvigorating ties.
Building on the dialogue between @ZelenskyyUa and @NarendraModi, we will pay specific attention to the Peace Formula. pic.twitter.com/PNNuc6TrmP
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 28, 2024
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi recently spoke to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the same day after the Russian leader clinched his record fifth term in office. While the western world has slammed Russia over its ongoing military invasion in Ukraine which completed two years in February, New Delhi has avoided criticising Moscow and has increased buying Russian oil to record levels instead.
Read: This is why Ukraine diplomat Emine Dzhaparova said ‘Crimea episode has lesson for India’
I spoke with Prime Minister @NarendraModi to express gratitude for India's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, humanitarian aid, and active participation in Peace Formula meetings.
It will be important for us to see India attend the inaugural Peace…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 20, 2024
However, it has also promised help to Ukraine and Modi told Putin during a meeting in Uzbekistan in September 2022 that the current era is not of war.
Read: India will do whatever it can to resolve Ukraine crisis: Modi to Zelenskyy in Japan
During their conversation, Modi told Zelenskyy that India supports “all efforts for peace” and for the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to come to an end.
Ukraine hopes to hold a summit of world leaders minus Russia in the coming months in Switzerland to promote its blueprint for peace, a “formula” that calls among other things for the withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory.
The Kremlin has dismissed the Ukrainian diplomatic initiative as a non-starter.
In April 2023, Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister Emine Dzhaparova visited New Delhi and besides meeting a number of prominent Indian officials, said that rebuilding infrastructure in Ukraine could be an opportunity for Indian companies.
