From Kyiv, Jaishankar signals India’s readiness to help end Russia-Ukraine War

New Delhi: The external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, is on a three-day visit to Ukraine and Poland from September 3 to 5. On the first day of his visit, he met the Ukrainian foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, in Kyiv and was asked about India’s role in helping end the Russia-Ukraine war. Jaishankar said, “If India can be of any help, in any manner, we are there.”

In a post on X, Jaishankar said he was pleased to call on the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and briefed him on his talks with Sybiha on deepening bilateral cooperation. He added that the conversation with Zelenskyy had centred on approaches to end the ongoing conflict.

The comment falls short of a formal mediation offer. There is no announcement of India launching talks between Moscow and Kyiv, rather it reads as an offer to help if both sides and circumstances allow it.

Jaishankar’s remark comes just days after the prime minister, Narendra Modi met Russian president, Vladimir Putin, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek. During that meeting, Modi had called for a shift from an “endless war” towards an “end of war.”

Sybiha welcomed Modi’s comments and said Ukraine was ready for diplomacy, adding that he hoped for a “new dynamic” in peace efforts. He also called India an important global power, though he added a caveat: ending Russian aggression without American involvement would not be realistic, given continuing contacts between Kyiv and Washington.

Putin, for his part, has said a peace deal remains possible, even as he acknowledged that restarting negotiations has grown harder. He maintained that any final resolution has to come from Russia and Ukraine themselves, according to Reuters. 

Wednesday’s meeting was not an isolated engagement, as Jaishankar and Sybiha have met several times over the past year and a half. Their previous interactions include meetings at the Munich Security Conference in February 2025 and on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue in March 2025, followed by a phone call in September 2025, according to the Tribune.

Jaishankar and Sybiha also discussed attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea, a subject with a direct bearing on India. Indian seafarers have been among those affected by the recent escalation in the region.

The disruption is also being felt further afield. Asian buyers have begun turning to Australian and Argentine wheat as Russian and Ukrainian supplies face growing uncertainty, according to Reuters.

Jaishankar’s next stop: Poland

From Kyiv, Jaishankar travels on to Poland, where he is due to meet the Polish deputy prime minister, and foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski. The visit is officially aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and discussing regional developments. 

Taken together, the stops in Kyiv and Warsaw give India a foothold in two different European conversations – one centred on the war itself, the other on wider regional security concerns.