Ukraine foreign minister’s visit: Can Kuleba convince India to take part in Ukraine’s peace summit?

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba is meeting his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in New Delhi to advance Kyiv’s efforts for peace amid its ongoing conflict with Russia. Kuleba, who began a two-day visit to the South Asian country on Thursday (28 March), also seeks to bolster ties between India and Ukraine.

Besides meeting with External Affairs Minister (EAM) Jaishankar today (29 March), the Ukrainian foreign minister will also hold talks with Indian deputy national security adviser Vikram Misri.

This is his first trip to India since becoming Ukraine’s foreign minister in 2020. Kuleba’s main agenda is to push for India’s support for a peace summit set to take place in Switzerland.

Let’s take a closer look.

Ukraine’s peace summit

Kuleba is expected to garner India’s backing for the international peace summit that neutral Switzerland will organise possibly in spring. The dates for the conference have not been announced yet.

Ukraine plans to hold the summit to build support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace proposal with Russia. In January, Swiss president Viola Amherd said her country would host the Global Peace Summit.

“At the request of the Ukrainian president, Switzerland has agreed to host a summit on the peace formula,” the Swiss government said at the time, as per Reuters.

Zelenskyy had unveiled the 10-point peace plan at the G20 Summit in Indonesia in 2022. The proposal entails restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, withdrawal of Russian troops and stopping hostilities, release of all prisoners and detainees, environmental protection, ensuring the shipment of Ukrainian food grains, energy security, security guarantees for Ukraine, setting up a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes, restoring nuclear safety and ending the war.

Ukraine is seeking India’s participation in the peace conference. During his phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 20 March, Zelenskyy had pushed for India’s attendance at the conclave.

Taking to X, the Ukrainian president wrote that it was “important for us to see India attend the inaugural Peace Summit, which is currently being prepared in Switzerland”.

I spoke with Prime Minister @NarendraModi to express gratitude for India's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, humanitarian aid, and active participation in Peace Formula meetings.

It will be important for us to see India attend the inaugural Peace…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 20, 2024

PM Modi said in his post that he had conveyed “India’s consistent support for all efforts for peace and bringing an early end to the ongoing conflict” to Zelenskyy.

“India will continue to provide humanitarian assistance guided by our people-centric approach," he wrote on X.

New Delhi, which has historically cordial relations with Russia, has maintained a neutral stance in Moscow’s war with Ukraine. India has iterated multiple times that dialogue and diplomacy are the way forward to resolve the conflict.

Will India attend?

Kuleba is expected to bring up the peace summit during his interaction with Indian officials. As per people familiar with the matter, India is yet to decide on the level of its participation in the spring summit, Hindustan Times (HT) reported.

With India holding Lok Sabha polls starting next month till 1 June, they said that New Delhi’s attendance at the highest level is dicey if the summit takes place during this period.
“It still isn’t clear which countries will participate or if Russia will be part of the summit,” one person told HT.

Ukraine hopes to hold the global summit of world leaders without Russia’s participation, according to Reuters. “We are open to all countries of the world that respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity. Therefore you can draw conclusions on whom we invite,” Zelenskyy told a press conference in Switzerland in January.

Russia has dismissed the Ukraine-led initiative as a non-starter, noted Reuters.

But China and Switzerland are pressing for Moscow to be invited to the talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, reported South China Morning Post (SCMP). Last week, China’s ambassador to the Swiss capital Bern said that Beijing will consider participating in the peace conference.

Earlier this month, Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis confirmed he will take part in the Global Peace Summit.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval said last August at a gathering in Saudi Arabia on Ukraine that while many peace formulas had been floated, none is “acceptable to both sides” and asked whether a solution admissible to all stakeholders can be found, reported HT.

What else is on the agenda?

Ukrainian foreign minister will also discuss “bilateral partnership and cooperation on regional and global issues of mutual interest” with his Indian counterpart, as per the MEA.

A session of the India-Ukraine Inter-governmental Commission is also on the cards.

Kuleba earlier said that Kyiv would welcome India’s role in the reconstruction of Ukraine. “India is welcomed to engage with Ukraine on economic projects now and of course in the reconstruction of the country,” he told ThePrint ahead of his visit.

#VantageOnFirstpost: Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba is on a two-day visit to India. The trip comes after months of strained relations between the two countries over India's refusal to criticise Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Why is Ukraine reaching out to India? @palkisu pic.twitter.com/B5EnqEXlP6

— Firstpost (@firstpost) March 28, 2024

In a recent interview with Financial Times (FT), the Ukrainian foreign minister urged India to stand by Kyiv, saying New Delhi’s close ties with Russia are based on a “Soviet legacy” that is “evaporating”.

He also said India has much to gain from expanding cooperation with Ukraine in trade and technology and said Kyiv is seeking to “restore trade” with New Delhi.

Kuleba, who is also likely to interact with the business community during the trip, has called on Indian companies to engage in the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine, FT reported.

His visit to India, the first by a Ukrainian foreign minister in seven years, comes at a time when Russia is gearing up for advances at the front lines. Kyiv is also awaiting the much-needed military support from the United States due to resistance from Republican leader Donald Trump and his supporters in Congress.

With inputs from agencies