India in continuous touch with Ukraine, Russia to help end conflict: Jaishankar

India has been in continuous touch with both Ukraine and Russia and is trying to see if there are ideas and suggestions that will contribute to the mitigation or the cessation of the conflict, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said on Friday.

Jaishankar, who is in Poland after visiting Ukraine, said that he discussed with his Poland counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski the complex global challenges, including supply chain resilience, and food, fuel and fertiliser security.

“The Deputy Prime Minister and I also understandably discussed some major global and regional issues, notable among them is the war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year… I myself have just come here from Kyiv,” he said, referring to his visit to Ukraine a day earlier.

A day earlier, Jaishankar had said in Ukraine that India is ready to extend “help in any manner” to end the Ukraine-Russia war. He had met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha in Kyiv on Thursday.

On Friday, Jaishankar reiterated that India believes that endless war must give way to an end to war. “These are wars without winners. Every additional day means more death, more destruction, more loss to the parties themselves, and more cost to the rest of the world,” he said in Warsaw.

“Our efforts must therefore focus on promoting dialogue and diplomacy. We must each do what we can in whichever way we believe could be most effective and support the efforts of others to bring this conflict to an end. This is India's strong conviction, and we are acting on it,” he added.

On India's purchases of Russian oil, the minister said the issue is a conflict, and its solution lies in negotiations, not in trade. “This war is not going to end… not because somebody chose to buy or not buy oil or alumina or fertilisers or metals and minerals.

It will end when there is diplomacy, when there is dialogue and when there is negotiation. So, I think let's diagnose the problem right,” he said while replying to another question. In his talks with Sikorski, the EAM reviewed the progress of the Joint Action Plan 2024-28, which focuses on, among other things, trade and investment, defence, culture and multilateral cooperation.

“Value Poland's support for deeper India-EU cooperation. Confident that the entry into force of the FTA will lead to even closer bilateral cooperation,” Jaishankar said, adding that India and Poland have a longstanding cordial relationship that was elevated to a Strategic Partnership in 2024.

“The world is today grappling not only with multiple wars but also serious challenges of food, fuel and fertiliser availability. Supply chain resilience is an independent but added concern. As political democracies, market economies and open societies, India and Poland can cooperate to shape the direction of many important global debates.

Our tradition of working closely in the United Nations and multilateral forums is an important expression of that convergence,” he said. Later, Jaishankar also called on Polish President Karol Nawrocki and discussed the bilateral Strategic Partnership and exchanged views on the Ukraine conflict and the West Asia situation.