New Delhi, November 9: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday evening held a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, with the discussion focused on the Ukraine conflict and the diplomatic initiatives under way to end the war, news agencies IANS and ANI reported.

Jaishankar announced the call himself in a post on X. “Spoke this evening with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia. Our conversation focused on the Ukraine conflict and ongoing diplomatic initiatives,” he wrote. The minister gave no further details of what was discussed.

Source: IANS via The Freedom Press

The Lavrov call was the second half of a day of Indian diplomacy on Ukraine. Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke by telephone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and again conveyed India's readiness to contribute to all efforts aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict, according to the Prime Minister's Office. Zelenskyy briefed Modi on the latest diplomatic developments and preparations for the Abu Dhabi meeting, his office said.

A day before the Abu Dhabi talks

The two calls came a day ahead of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine hosted by the United States in Abu Dhabi, where the latest initiative is expected to focus on security guarantees aimed at preventing the war from restarting if a truce is reached. Peace talks are resuming after a lull of about nine months.

India has been running a three-track engagement on the conflict. Jaishankar visited Kyiv on September 3 and proposed a three-part truce aimed at halting attacks on energy facilities and other infrastructure, keeping grain and energy flowing through the Black Sea, and ending strikes on commercial shipping. Earlier this month, on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Atlanta, he said India was in discussions with Russia, Ukraine, Europe and the United States on the same three aspects — protecting civilian shipping and seafarers, restoring grain exports from the Black Sea and a “non-attack on energy” understanding.

Neither New Delhi nor Moscow issued a detailed readout of the Jaishankar-Lavrov conversation beyond the minister's post. Whether India's parallel engagement produces a concrete role at the Abu Dhabi table will become clearer when the talks open on Tuesday.

Source: ANI via Apna Ma TV Channel