Zelenskyy calls for unity in preparing 2nd peace summit, invites India and others to join

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council that “we have to prepare” the second peace summit to end the Russia-Ukraine war “altogether” and he has invited India and other countries to join the peace process.

“We all know what needs to be done if we honestly look at the situation and truly want to stop Russia's war. Most importantly, act together, of course in unity, without creating new and unnecessary divisions of the world into blocks or regional groups,” Zelenskyy on Tuesday, 24 September told a Security Council meeting on the Ukraine conflict.

Zelenskyy said that unity always works for peace and “we have to prepare the second peace summit to end the war altogether. And I invite all of you, all principle nations to join us in this process, all who truly respect the UN Charter. We invite China. We invite Brazil. I have already invited India. We are working with African nations, all of Latin America, the West Asia, Central Asia, Europe, the Pacific region, and North America. All.”

Zelenskyy said all are "equally important for peace, all without exceptions. Just as the UN Charter must work without exceptions”.

The Ukrainian president said this process will “lead us to peace, to a just peace, a real peace, a peace that will last. All of us already know how to achieve it. We have the peace formula, we have the UN Charter and we have all the strength needed to make it happen. What's needed is determination.”

Zelenskyy on Monday, 23 September met prime minister Narendra Modi in New York before the Indian leader wrapped up his three-day visit to the US.

Modi's meeting with Zelenskyy, requested by the Ukrainian side, came at the sidelines of his other engagements, including participating in the Quad Leaders' Summit and his address to the UN's 'Summit of the Future'.

The meeting between Modi and Zelenskyy was their third in a little over three months.

Modi met the Ukrainian leader in Kyiv last month, just weeks after he had met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in July.

In June, Modi held a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy.

“We are committed to implementing the outcomes of my visit to Ukraine last month to strengthen bilateral relations. Reiterated India’s support for early resolution of the conflict in Ukraine and restoration of peace and stability,” the prime minister said on X following Monday's meeting with Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy, noting that this was already the third bilateral meeting this year with Modi, said the main focus of their conversation was on “enhancing our interaction on international platforms, particularly at the UN and G20 as well as implementing the peace formula and preparing for the second peace summit. We had a substantive discussion on the available opportunities.”

“We are actively developing our relations and working together to strengthen cooperation across various fields,” the Ukrainian president said, adding that he was “grateful for the clear support of our sovereignty and territorial integrity”. Responding to a question during a press briefing on discussions with the Ukrainian leader on a second peace summit, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the discussions covered a lot of issues related to finding a way forward.

Misri said a number of things came up, the peace summit that was held in Switzerland, the ideas that have been floated after that, the efforts that Ukraine is making on its own and the possibility of a second peace summit that Ukraine has been talking.

“But I think we are not right now at a stage where the second peace summit can be discussed in any detail. I think there is a lot of work that remains to be done before that, so there was not a great deal of discussion on that specific issue.”

Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West) at the Ministry of External Affairs, represented India at the 'Summit on Peace in Ukraine' hosted by Switzerland at Burgenstock on 15-16 June.

The Indian delegation attended the opening and closing plenary sessions but India did not associate itself with any communique/document emerging from this summit.

“India’s participation in the summit and preceding NSA/Political Director-level meetings based on Ukraine’s peace formula was in line with our consistent approach to facilitate a lasting and peaceful resolution to the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. We continue to believe that such a resolution requires a sincere and practical engagement between the two parties to the conflict,” the MEA said.

In this regard, India will continue to remain engaged with all stakeholders and both parties to contribute to all earnest efforts to bring about an early and abiding peace, the MEA added.