Kyiv/New Delhi: India and Ukraine are finalising a new security cooperation, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
This comes just days after Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, held high-level talks with India’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and external affairs minister S Jaishankar, as reported by The Indian Express.
“We are preparing important announcements regarding our security cooperation with partners next week. We do not forget that air defense for Ukraine and support for our army remain constant priorities,” Zelenskyy posted on X
“More security arrangements are forthcoming. We already have an arrangement on security cooperation with India, and we are finalizing it so that the documents are in place,” he said.
“We are also preparing for further work with our European partners to unblock the already-approved support package for Ukraine, delivery of which still hasn’t begun,” Zelenskyy added.
During his meeting with Umerov on Friday, Doval is known to have conveyed India’s “principled position and focus on peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy”.
Delhi’s position has been for a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made this clear during his past visits to Moscow and Kyiv.
Doval and Umerov reviewed bilateral relations and discussed the ongoing conflict. “NSA reiterated India’s principled position and focus on peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy,” the Ministry of External Affairs’s official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said after the meeting.
“We discussed the development of bilateral relations and the assessment of the security situation. The Indian side reaffirmed its consistent position on the need for a peaceful settlement based on dialogue and diplomacy,” Umerov said.
“I am grateful for the shared understanding of the need to find solutions that will ensure a lasting peace,” he added.
“Glad to meet @rustem_umerov, Secretary of the National Security & Defence Council of Ukraine today. Discussed our bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on the Ukraine conflict,” Jaishankar posted.
“We discussed the current situation on the front line, the progress of negotiations, and the prospects for achieving a just, lasting, and sustainable peace for Ukraine,” Umerov said after his meeting with Jaishankar.
“We also focused on the development of bilateral cooperation and the implementation of agreements outlined in the Joint Statement of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, following his visit to Ukraine in August 2024,” he said.
“I am grateful for the open and substantive dialogue. We look forward to further strengthening bilateral cooperation,” Umerov added.
India has sought to walk a diplomatic tightrope over the past four years since the Russian-Ukrainian War started, and has expressed its willingness to contribute to peace efforts.
