India in Touch With Russia, Ukraine to Push for Peace, Says Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said India remains in continuous contact with both Ukraine and Russia and is exploring ideas that could help mitigate and eventually end the ongoing conflict between the two countries.

Jaishankar made the remarks in Warsaw after arriving from Kyiv, where he held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Thursday. Addressing a joint press conference with Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, he said the Ukraine war was among the key regional and global issues discussed during their meeting.

The minister said India’s approach is focused on identifying practical suggestions that could contribute to reducing hostilities and creating conditions for an end to the conflict. “India has been in continuous touch with both the Ukrainian and Russian sides,” Jaishankar said, adding that New Delhi was examining whether ideas could be developed to contribute to the mitigation or cessation of the conflict.

He reiterated India’s belief that prolonged warfare must give way to dialogue and diplomacy. “These are wars without winners,” he said, noting that every additional day of fighting results in more deaths, destruction and economic costs for the countries involved as well as the wider world.

Jaishankar said India’s efforts would focus on promoting dialogue and diplomacy, while supporting initiatives by other countries aimed at ending the war. He stressed that India would continue to act in whichever way it believes can most effectively contribute to peace.

During his Kyiv visit, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to India for its commitment to ending the war and welcomed New Delhi’s position that the conflict must end through a reliable peace process.

Responding to questions about India’s purchases of Russian oil, Jaishankar said trade should not be viewed as the cause of the conflict or its solution. He argued that the war would end through diplomacy, dialogue and negotiations, rather than decisions over purchases of oil, fertilisers, metals or minerals. Jaishankar’s comments underline India’s continued push for a diplomatic resolution while maintaining engagement with both sides of the conflict.