 "From ‘blood on hands’ to ‘great world power’: Ukraine foreign minister Kuleba’s big U-turn on India")
Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, it’s been nearly 765 days of fighting, Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has arrived in New Delhi for a two-day visit during which he will attempt to boost bilateral ties and cooperation with India, which considers Moscow a time-tested ally from the Cold War-era.
This is the first time in seven years that Ukraine’s foreign minister is visiting India and the first for Kuleba himself.
Kuleba has said that he will be seeking Indian engagement in the reconstruction of the war-torn country.
Notably, prior to his visit to New Delhi, the Ukrainian foreign minister in a briefing said that Kyiv saw “India as an important global power with a powerful international voice”. This is quite a reversal from the past when he had hit out India over its “morally inappropriate” import of Russian oil.
Kuleba in New Delhi
On the occasion of Holi (25 March), Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba wished the country for the festival and announced that he would be visiting India later in the week on the invitation of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Today, India celebrates Holi, the most beautiful and colorful spring holiday. I wish everyone a happy Holi! Standing here in Kyiv, in front of Mahatma Gandhi's monument, I am also pleased to announce that this week I will pay my first ever visit to India. pic.twitter.com/j38tNyGvUw
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 25, 2024
He added in his message, “When Ukraine faced the Russian invasion two years ago, very few people believed we would survive, but we persisted and we will succeed in defending our freedom and independence. According to Mahatma Gandhi, the future depends on what we do in the present. Hence supporting Ukraine today means supporting freedom and independence. Supporting the legacy of the great Mahatma.”
During his visit to India, he will hold meetings with his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar, on Friday, as well as the deputy national security advisor. During these meets, it is expected that the matter of air defence will be raised. “The more important issue… or the most important issue, would be air defence. Russia escalated its air terror against Ukraine. It has launched 190 missiles of various types against Ukraine, 400 Shahed drones and 700 guided bombs in just one week," the Ukrainian FM was quoted as saying by an ANI report.
He added, “These strikes targeted energy facilities including critical infrastructure and civilians resulting in significant casualties and damages as well as power outages in entire cities. Ukraine urgently requires more air defence and interceptors, particularly patriots and other systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.”
A report in The Hindu citing a Ukrainian source said that Kuleba will also advocate for “complete withdrawal of Russian forces back to the 1991 borders” and push for India’s support ahead of the international peace summit Switzerland plans to organise in the coming months.
India “an important global power”
Interestingly, prior to his arrival in New Delhi, Kuleba said Ukraine sees India as an important global power. “Ukraine sees India as an important global power with a powerful international voice. The aim of this visit is to strengthen the Ukrainian Indian relationship. We are confident that close cooperation will benefit both our nations,” Kuleba said.
He added, “We are confident that close cooperation will benefit both our nations. During my visit, a number of talks are planned including with the foreign ministers, as well as a session of the Ukraine-India inter-governmental commission,” he said.
A reversal of sorts
However, Kuleba’s recent comment is a stark contrast from the ones he has made in the past.
In August 2022, he had come down heavily on India for its continued purchase of Russian crude oil despite Western sanctions and the ongoing war. “Every barrel of Russian crude that India gets, has a good portion of Ukrainian blood in it,” Kuleba had said during a press briefing. “We are friendly and open to India. I supported the evacuation of Indian students .”
He made the comments after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had justified New Delhi’s decision to buy oil from Russia, saying that every country tries to ensure the best deal possible to cushion high energy prices.
Later in December of the same year, in an interview to NDTV, the Ukrainian minister was once again critical of India’s imports of Russian oil referring to it as being “morally inappropriate”.
“The opportunity for India to buy Russian oil at a cheap price comes from the fact that Ukrainians are suffering from Russian aggression and dying every day,” a fiery Kuleba had said.
“If you benefit because of our suffering, it would be good to see more of your help addressed to us. ‘It is not enough to point fingers at the European Union and say, ‘Oh, they are doing the same thing’.”
He was responding to Jaishankar’s remarks that between February and November of 2022, the the European Union (EU) has imported more fossil fuel from Russia than the next 10 countries combined.
Ukraine cosying to India
Many note that Kuleba’s U-turn on India is part of Ukraine’s larger strategy of cosying up to India, and appeal to it to leverage its relationship with Russia to cease the war.
Earlier, other leaders of Ukraine have been critical of New Delhi, only to later clarify their remarks. For instance, in September 2023, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak kicked up a political storm by saying India and China have “weak intellectual potential” and that they “do not analyse the consequences” of their actions.
Speaking to Ukrainian media, he had said, “What’s wrong with India, China, and so forth. The problem is that they are not analysing the consequences of their steps, these countries have weak intellectual potential, unfortunately.”
“Yes, they invest in science. Yes, India has launched a lunar rover presently and is now trekking on the surface of the moon, but that does not indicate that this country fully comprehends what the modern world is about.”
But as recently as last week, Prime Minister Modi had a phone call with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy following which the former posted on X, “Had a good conversation with President @ZelenskyyUa on strengthening the India-Ukraine partnership. Conveyed India’s consistent support for all efforts for peace and bringing an early end to the ongoing conflict. India will continue to provide humanitarian assistance guided by our people-centric approach.”
It was also reported that Zelenskyy extended an invitation to the PM to visit Ukraine after the general elections in India.
Zelenskyy has also sent an increasing number of ministers to New Delhi; Ukrainian deputy minister of foreign affairs Emine Dzhaparova visited New Delhi in April 2023, while Iryna Borovets, another deputy minister of foreign affairs, travelled to India in February for the Raisina Dialogue.
India’s stance on the war
Since the war began in February 2022, India has maintained a neutral stance on the issue, asking for both sides to engage in talks and diplomacy to iron out their differences.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to leaders of both countries — Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin — on multiple occasions and urged both sides to talk out their differences. In a phone conversation with Zelenskyy on 4 October 2022, Modi had said there can be “no military solution”, and that India is ready to contribute to any peace efforts.
It was the same time that Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan had told Putin “today’s era is not of war”.
Amid the war, India has maintained its close ties with Moscow. It has repeatedly abstained in voting against Moscow in United Nations resolutions which condemn the Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory.
But New Delhi has refuted claims that it has favoured Russia, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying on Wednesday that India has had the opportunity to talk to Moscow “very frankly and bluntly” on the war. He also said that India has been used by others in ‘passing messages’ during the conflict.
With inputs from agencies
