Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will be focused on the “complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory” during talks in Delhi. He is expected to arrive here this week.
Diplomatic sources indicated that his visit would provide Ukraine an opportunity to engage Indian interlocutors in a frank dialogue ahead of the planned peace initiative in Switzerland that will convene soon to discuss the war in Ukraine.
Also read: Ukrainian Minister invokes Mahatma Gandhi for Indian backing
A source in Ukraine said that Mr. Kuleba will push for “complete withdrawal of Russian forces back to the 1991 borders”, during his presentations to Indian policymakers. Mr. Kuleba will be the seniormost representative of Ukraine to visit India since the war broke out. The last foreign minister-level visit from Ukraine was in October 2017 when Ukraine’s then foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin met with the late External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. That visit was conducted in the shadow of the March 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea which left parts of the Donbas under the control of “rebels”.
In an interview with The Hindu during that visit Mr. Klimkin had urged New Delhi to send peacekeeping troops to the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and had said – “The recipe is simple – Russia should go out of Ukraine.”
A source in Kyiv said that Mr, Kuleba too will echo Mr. Klimkin’s core argument that “Russia should go out of Ukraine.” Mr. Kuleba’s visit is symbolically significant as it comes exactly a decade after the Russian annexation of Crimea and two years after Russia launched the campaign targeting Ukraine in February 2022. Mr. Kuleba seized the moment on Monday to drive home the symbolic aspect of his visit by sending a video message standing next to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi located in the Ukrainian capital and said, “Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the great Mahatma, was one of the most prominent figures of the 20th century. His ideal and final goals were freedom and independence and this is exactly what Ukrainians are fighting for today – freedom and independence.”
Blood and oil
Despite these appeals and the reference to the Mahatma, India’s economic relationship with Russia broadened after Moscow was hit by western sanctions in the spring of 2022.
Russia then turned towards India, China and other developing economies. India charged up its energy market by increasing energy imports from Russia to an unprecedented level. This drew criticism from Mr. Kuleba who in August 2022 had said: “When India purchases Russian crude oil (at a discount), they have to understand that the discount has to be paid by Ukrainian blood.
Every barrel of Russian crude that India gets, has a good portion of Ukrainian blood in it. We are friendly and open to India. I supported the evacuation of Indian students (after the war broke out). We expected more practical support from India to Ukraine.” However, despite such passionate arguments, External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar in the past week alone has reiterated that India and Russia have always enjoyed a “positive relationship”
“So, tell me has Russia helped us or harmed us? Has Russia at crucial moments contributed or obstructed? Going ahead, are there gains to be made from Russia or is it only damage which will come out? So, if I do my calculations from my perspective and my experiences, I will get the answer – and the answer in this case is that Russia is a country with which we have always had a positive relationship,” said Mr. Jaishankar in his remarks at a meeting of the Indian community in Singapore.
These articulations of the Indian position will be useful as Mr. Kuleba plans his visit which is expected to be a stopover venue for the Ukrainian diplomatic team as they warm up for the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. On Tuesday, Mr. Kuleba spoke with Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to update him about the Russian ballistic missile strikes. He was assured of greater EU commitment to the anti-Russia front. Ukraine has already invited India to be part of the Global Peace Summit which will test India’s proclaimed neutral stance in this lingering crisis.
