Ukraine Foreign Minister arrives in Delhi amid conflict with Russia

Ukraine Foreign Minister arrives in Delhi amid conflict with Russia

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba arrived in New Delhi on Thursday on a two-day visit to brief the Indian leadership on the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the ‘Peace Summit’ proposed to be hosted by Switzerland.

Mr Kuleba was received by senior Indian officials at the airport on his first-ever visit to India. This is the first high-level visit from Ukraine to India since the hostilities erupted in Europe in February 2022.

“I began my visit to New Delhi upon @DrSJaishankar’s invitation. Ukrainian-Indian cooperation is important and we will be reinvigorating ties,” the visiting minister said in a social media post on X.

“Building on the dialogue between @ZelenskyyUa and @NarendraModi, we will pay specific attention to the Peace Formula,” he added.

During the visit, he is slated to meet External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri to discuss matters pertaining to the bilateral partnership and cooperation on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

The visit comes days after Prime Minister Modi spoke to Ukraine President Voldimyr Zelenskyy on the phone and reiterated that diplomacy and dialogue be given a chance to resolve the conflict. Modi assured the Ukrainian leader that India would continue to send humanitarian assistance to the embattled nation.

At his weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, ”The visit of the Ukrainian foreign minister is happening on the invitation of EAM. He will be here on a two-day visit. He will have a bilateral engagement with EAM where they will review the intergovernmental commission that was held earlier. They will also discuss global and regional issues of common concern and several other engagements are lined up for the Ukrainian foreign minister.”

He said India continues to encourage peaceful conflict resolution through dialogue and diplomacy.