President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked India to help widen diplomatic engagement over Russia’s war, while the two governments offered different levels of detail about food corridors before talks in Abu Dhabi.
Ukraine’s presidential office said Zelenskyy asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to identify steps India could take and engage other leaders in dialogue. It said the call covered food security and Russia’s blocking of grain exports through the Black Sea. The office described India as ready to mediate efforts to establish food corridors, but gave no route, timetable or terms.
India’s Press Information Bureau, publishing the Prime Minister’s Office readout, said Modi reiterated that the conflict should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and conveyed India’s readiness to contribute to peace efforts. The Indian statement did not refer to food corridors, so it did not confirm the specific mediation role described by Ukraine.
The United Nations and Türkiye brokered the 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative, which Ukraine and Russia signed. Shipments from Ukraine under the initiative totaled nearly 33 million metric tons of grain and other food products, reaching 45 countries. The readouts after the Zelenskyy-Modi call did not announce a new arrangement or provide details for one.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff announced that U.S.-mediated talks involving Ukraine and Russia are scheduled for Nov. 10 and 11 in Abu Dhabi. The meetings are the next scheduled diplomatic event identified in the announcements.
In October, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Witkoff could relay to Russian President Vladimir Putin what he had heard from Ukrainian and European officials, as described in EconoTimes’ earlier coverage of the proposed briefing.
