Zelenskyy Dials PM Modi
The prime minister reiterated India's commitment to extend all possible support
New Delhi: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday evening after which he claimed that “India is ready to make the necessary efforts (towards ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict) and to deliver the appropriate signal to Russia and other leaders” during the meetings on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in the Chinese port city of Tianjin.
This comes ahead of the bilateral meeting between Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in Tianjin. Zelenskyy also said that during the phone call the two nations “coordinated their positions” ahead of the summit. He said he discussed bilateral ties with India during the phone call and also the “preparations for exchange of visits, and the holding of a meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission.
Top Ukrainian diplomats in India had earlier confirmed that the two nations are working out dates for a visit by Zelenskyy to New Delhi. Modi had visited Ukraine a year ago. This is the second phone call made by Zelenskyy to Modi this month.
India shared its own version of the call in an official readout that mentioned that “President Zelenskyy shared his perspective on the recent developments related to Ukraine”and that “PM Modi thanked President Zelenskyy and reaffirmed India’s steadfast and consistent position for peaceful settlement of the conflict and support for efforts aimed at earliest restoration of peace.”
New Delhi added that PM Modi “reiterated India’s commitment to extend all possible support in this regard”. NewDelhi also said the two leaders “reviewed progress in the India-Ukraine bilateral partnership and discussed ways to further enhance cooperation in all areas of mutual interest.”
After the phone call, Modi posted on his X handle: “Thank President Zelenskyy for his phone call today. We exchanged views on the ongoing conflict, its humanitarian aspect, and efforts to restore peace and stability. India extends full support to all efforts in this direction.”
In his statement, Zelenskyy said he informed Modi “about the talks with President Trump in Washington with the participation of European leaders and termed those talks in Washington as “a productive and important conversation, a shared vision among partners on how to achieve real peace”.
Stating that “Ukraine reaffirmed its readiness for a meeting with the head of Russia,” Zeneskyy lambasted Moscow and said, “Almost two weeks have passed, and during this time, when Russia should have been preparing for diplomacy, Moscow has given no positive signal – only carried out cynical strikes on civilian targets and killed dozens of our people.”