EAM Jaishankar meets his Ukrainian counterpart, discusses recent regional developments, ways to end Russia-Ukraine conflict

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday held a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and both the leaders discussed recent developments in the region, nuclear concerns and ways to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Jaishankar met Kuleba on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India summit here in the Cambodian capital.

“Pleasure to meet FM @DmytroKuleba of Ukraine. Our discussions covered recent developments in the conflict, the grain initiative and nuclear concerns,” he tweeted.

Jaishankar is accompanying Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar who is leading the Indian delegation to the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit and the 17th East Asia Summit here.

Ukraine Foreign Dmytro Kuleba took to Twitter and said that he discussed bilateral cooperation and ways to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“My Indian counterpart @DrSJaishankar and I met to discuss bilateral cooperation and ways to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. I emphasized that Russia must immediately cease deadly attacks, withdraw all troops from Ukraine, and commit to peace. We also focused on global food security,” Kuleba tweeted.

India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.

Since the Ukraine conflict began in February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a number of times.

During their bilateral meeting in October on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Samarkand, Modi pressed Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine soon, saying “today’s era is not of war” even as he called for finding ways to address the global food and energy security crisis.

In a phone conversation with Zelenskyy on October 4, Modi said there can be “no military solution” and that India is ready to contribute to any peace efforts.

India has also said the suspension of the Black Sea Grain initiative is expected to further exacerbate food security, and fuel and fertiliser supply challenges faced by the world, particularly in the global South.

Russia suspended the initiative after an attack on its ships in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol in the Crimean peninsula.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative is the agreement on the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

The initiative resulted in the export of more than nine million tonnes of grains and other food products out of Ukraine.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations and is being celebrated as the ASEAN-India Friendship Year.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an international organisation that has 10 member countries in Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.