'Already invited India': Zelenskyy on second peace summit to Ukraine conflict after talks with PM Modi

Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council that "we have to prepare" for a second peace summit to end the Ukraine conflict for which he had already invited India. This came after he met PM Modi in New York for their third bilateral meeting this year, recalling the PM's recent visit to Ukraine.

New York: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited India and other countries in preparation for the second peace summit to end the Russia-Ukraine war "altogether", he told the UN Security Council on Tuesday. Zelenskyy called for united action to end Russia's war "without creating new and unnecessary divisions of the world into blocks or regional groups".

Addressing a Security Council meeting on Ukraine, Zelenskyy said unity always work for peace and "we have to prepare the second peace summit to end the war altogether. And I invite all of you, all principle nations to join us in this process, all who truly respect the UN Charter. We invite China. We invite Brazil. I have already invited India. We are working with African nations, all of Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe, the Pacific region, and North America. All.”

The Ukrainian president said this process will “lead us to peace, to a just peace, a real peace, a peace that will last. All of us already know how to achieve it. We have the peace formula, we have the UN Charter and we have all the strength needed to make it happen. What's needed is determination.”

Zelenskyy's meeting with PM Modi in New York

This came days after Zelenskyy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their third bilateral meeting this year on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York on Monday. During the meeting, the two leaders recalled PM Modi's recent visit to Ukraine and expressed satisfaction at the continued consolidation of bilateral ties. The situation in Ukraine as well as the way forward on pursuing a path to peace also figured prominently in their discussions.

Prime Minister reiterated India's clear, consistent and constructive approach in favour of a peaceful resolution of the conflict through diplomacy and dialogue as well as engagement between all stakeholders. He conveyed that India remains open to providing all support within its means to facilitate a lasting and peaceful resolution of the conflict. 

"Very good meeting," Zelenskyy told news agency ANI on Tuesday. Notably, PM Modi had visited Ukraine on August 23 and it was the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Ukraine since diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in 1992. Their meeting on the sidelines of UNGA was the third between the two leaders in little over three months.

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What happened during the first peace summit?

Responding to a question during a press briefing on discussions with the Ukrainian leader on a second peace summit, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the discussions covered a lot of issues related to finding a way forward. Misri said a number of things came up, the peace summit that was held in Switzerland, the ideas that have been floated after that, the efforts that Ukraine is making on its own and the possibility of a second peace summit that Ukraine has been talking.

World leaders gathered in Switzerland in June for the globally-anticipated peace talks aimed at pressuring Russia to end its war in Ukraine, even though the absence of Moscow and China is believed to have blunted the potential impact of the discussions. The Indian delegation led by Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West), had attended the opening and closing plenary sessions of the Swiss summit and did not associate itself with any communique/document emerging from the high-level discussions on peace in Ukraine.

"India’s participation in the Summit, as well as in the preceding NSA/Political Director-level meetings based on Ukraine’s Peace Formula, was in line with our consistent approach to facilitate a lasting and peaceful resolution to the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. We continue to believe that such a resolution requires a sincere and practical engagement between the two parties to the conflict," the Ministry of External Affairs said.

(with agency input)

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