India stands ready to help in all efforts to end the war in Ukraine, external affairs minister S Jaishankar told the top Ukrainian leadership in Kyiv on Thursday, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to move from “endless war to the end of war”.
Peace efforts and the development of bilateral ties, including trade and investment, figured in discussions between the Ukrainian leadership and Jaishankar, the first external affairs minister to make a stand-alone visit to Kyiv. Jaishankar also visited Ukraine as part of the delegation that accompanied Modi on a trip two years ago. Jaishankar’s visit came against the backdrop of a significant increase in Russian attacks on merchant shipping in the Black Sea, which have caused the deaths of five Indian seafarers, and drone and missile strikes on cities across Ukraine.
Jaishankar pointed to the death of an Indian national in an attack in Kyiv two days ago and said: “We join in mourning every life lost and convey our deepest sympathy to every affected family.”
