New Delhi: In a rare diplomatic move, Ambassador of Russia to India Denis Alipov and the newly appointed Ukrainian envoy to New Delhi, Oleksandr Polishchuk, addressed two separate events in the Indian capital a week before the G20 Summit. While on one hand, Moscow made it clear that it would not make it easy for the host country and friend India to come up with a joint statement, Kyiv sought New Delhi’s help in post-war reconstruction.
The Narendra Modi government, which will be facing one of its biggest foreign policy challenges being the chair of the G20, is facing a Catch-22 situation where both Russia and Ukraine want something from India. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a deadly war since February 2022. So far, India has refused to take any side in the conflict but has urged “dialogue and diplomacy” in solving the crisis.
Denis Alipov, Ambassador of Russia to New Delhi, Friday made it amply clear that Moscow will not make it any easier for its friend India to stitch up a credible joint communique. He said the situation of having a G20 Declaration under India’s presidency is "complicated”.
"There is no consensus on that (G20 Declaration), on one particular agenda on the Ukraine para. So if there is no consensus, if there is consensus on all other points of the agenda and no consensus on the only one what shall we do in this tell me? We should remove this non-consensual item and agree on topical issues like climate change, sustainable development, financial crisis, and food crisis, on all these items we have a consensus. We have finalised all these except the Ukrainian para,” Alipov said at a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia.
He added: “Who insists on retaining it (the paragraph on Ukraine)? Russia does not. Who hides the head? We do not do that. We are very much open for discussion. There is the (UN) Security Council for that. There are other fora for that. G20 had been established for resolving financial and economic problems that the world faces, not geopolitical problems.”
The Russian envoy also refuted claims that the Russia-Ukraine war has aggravated the food and energy crisis in the world. He said it is due to the stiff western sanctions that these crises have spiralled out of control.
“During the US invasion of Iraq, were there any disruption? No, because nobody imposed sanctions on the US… The main supplier of wheat and grain to the world markets was Russia, not Ukraine,” Alipov said, adding that accusing Russia of walking out of the ‘Black Sea Grain Initiative’ by the western countries is “hypocritical”.
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Russia, along with China, has strongly objected to the mention of the Ukraine war which was put in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Bali Declaration that all G20 leaders had signed during the last Summit in Indonesia in November 2022. However, since then, Moscow as well as Beijing have refused to adhere to that and have asked for the paragraphs to be removed from all outcome documents of the G20 meetings held so far under India’s presidency.
India Hasn’t Proposed Any Solution To Stop The War: Russia
On India’s role in solving the Ukraine crisis, Alipov said Moscow would “welcome any serious proposal” by India or any other country. “India has not proposed any kind of ideas that will have the quickest resolution or cessation of hostilities.” He said India is an influential country and it should come with some “true solution” to the conflict but that has not happened yet.
The Russian Ambassador also said the 10-point peace plan that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested “do not help”.
He said there are proposals from the African countries and others but there has been no credible proposal yet put on the table that will at least help in both the sparring parties to even begin the negotiations.
President Zelenskyy had proposed the peace plan at the last G20 Summit held in Bali, Indonesia. Some of the main provisions of his proposal are withdrawal of Russian troops and the cessation of hostilities and the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders with Russia. Moscow has refused it.
India Okay With A Few Chapters In Zelenskyy Peace Plan, Says Ukraine
Meanwhile, addressing a small business event at another corner of New Delhi, which will soon be hosting the G20 Summit on September 9-10, the newly appointed envoy of Kyiv to New Delhi Polishchuk said India has agreed to a couple of chapters in the peace proposal floated by Zelenskyy.
“I am quite sure that we will definitely win this year … Many countries have supported the peace plan of President Zelenskyy and the support is growing. We feel motivated because India has already confirmed its participation in the implementation of two chapters of the peace formula of President Zelenskky namely ecological safety and humanitarian aid and also the provision of food security,” said Polishchuk.
He added that India has also agreed to another provision of the peace plan, which is related to territorial sovereignty and integrity as well as nuclear security. This will have a global effect and India’s participation is a strong signal of motivation for other countries of the Global South.”
Ambassador Polishchuk also said that Ukraine has shifted several educational institutions towards the west of that country so that education can continue and also invited Indian students to go back to Ukraine to resume their studies. Indian students had left Ukraine last year when the war began.
He also sought investments from the Indian government as well as the industry to invest in post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.