India, Ukraine Discuss Efforts To Achieve 'Peaceful Settlement' To Moscow-Kyiv Conflict: MEA

New Delhi: India and Ukraine on Friday had ‘sincere and comprehensive’ talks on efforts to reach a ‘peaceful settlement’ to the Russia-Ukraine conflict which began on February 2022 during the visit of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. 

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Kuleba met at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi as part of a bilateral engagement.

The meeting between Jaishankar and Kuleba focused on fostering constructive dialogue and strengthening bilateral relations between Kyiv and New Delhi, including in areas such as trade and investment, science and technology, defence, agriculture, health, culture, and education.

Both ministers also held a separate discussion on matters related to the India-Ukraine Inter-Governmental Commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical, industrial, and cultural cooperation, and its working groups.

Taking to micro-blogging site X, EAM Jaishankar said the two sides had a wide-ranging conversation focussing on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and its wider ramifications. They also reiterated their commitment to strengthen the overall relationship, including bilateral cooperation. 

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Kuleba said India and Ukraine have been "traditional friends, but I think there is much more that we can do, and should do, not only in the interest of our nations but also in the interest of global development and security architecture".

"We will be looking forward to restoring what had existed before the large-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine began... existed between us. We will be looking forward to discussing new areas and projects of cooperation. Because I do believe that this relationship has a strategic perspective," the Ukrainian foreign minister said.

After the meeting, Kuleba said on X, "We paid specific attention to the Peace Formula".

"In New Delhi, I had sincere and comprehensive talks with @DrSJaishankar about Ukrainian-Indian bilateral relations, the situation in our regions, and global security. We paid specific attention to the Peace Formula and the next steps on the path of its implementation," he said.

The peace formula proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2022 follows 10 principles aimed at ensuring a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.