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Jaishankar on Ukraine war: ‘People will come to the table…sooner the better’
External affairs minister S Jaishankar said “no one is going to find a solution from the battlefield”
External affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Tuesday asserting that “no one is going to find a solution from the battlefield”, referring to the conflicts in Ukraine and Middle East.
"We have today two major conflicts taking place simultaneously. This is putting the entire international system under great stress,” PTI cited the minister's interview to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
"And we cannot be just spectators and say, well, that's the way it is. It may or may not work. We will not know until we try.
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"But we do believe that on both these conflicts, in Ukraine and in the Middle East, countries need to take initiatives, make efforts, however difficult it looks, to try and find some common ground, something better than what we have today," the minister said.
Russia-Ukraine war
Jaishankar reiterated India's stand on the Russia-Ukraine war, saying that India thinks there should be "diplomacy to find a way of ending the conflict".
"And that's what we are trying to do," he said.
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When asked what pathways he saw, the minister said, "Engaging the participants."
“So you have to talk to Moscow and you have to talk to Kyiv. And that's what we are trying to do. Look, it's now nearly three years. You're not going to get a solution from the battlefield, right?” Jaishankar said.
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"We have to negotiate. At some stage, people will come to the table. The sooner they do it, the better, because the rest of the world is affected," the minister added.
“It's not just that Europe is taking the brunt of this conflict. Everybody else's life is also impacted by what is happening. So, do understand there is a big feeling across very large parts of the world. More effort needs to be done to actually get the participants back to the negotiation table," he said.
The external affairs minister added,"The case for countries taking an initiative to return to the negotiating table is compelling".
“And, I would say to you this is a very widespread sentiment in the world. We will know what Russia wants or Ukraine wants only when they get down to negotiation,” he said.
