Ukraine dials India ahead of UNGA meet

Yermak said Ukraine is interested in the broadest possible support, particularly from countries of the Global South, for the resolution to be voted on by the UN General Assembly on February 23.

Ukraine has lobbied India to back a proposed resolution to be voted on by the UN General Assembly on the eve of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, calling for an end to hostilities and a peace that ensures Ukraine’s “sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity”.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky(AFP)

The matter figured in a phone call between Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the Ukrainian president, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday. Yermak brief Doval on the situation on the war front, including reports of Russia preparing for “certain offensive actions”.

Yermak said Ukraine is interested in the broadest possible support, particularly from countries of the Global South, for the resolution to be voted on by the UN General Assembly on February 23, according to a readout from the Ukrainian presidency.

“Cooperation with India is very important to us. We believe that you will support our resolution, as it contains very correct wording on the inviolability of borders and territorial integrity. Our goals are transparent and clear: we do not claim a single centimeter of Russian territory, we just want to get ours back,” Yermak said.

There was no official word from the Indian side on the phone conversation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky several times since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 last year. Modi has proposed direct talks between the two leaders and also told Putin at a meeting last September that “today’s era is not of war”.

India has so far abstained on most Ukraine-related votes at UN bodies and it has also refrained from publicly censuring Russia’s action. It has, however, called for maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states.

The proposed resolution, entitled “Principles underlying a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine”, is broader than the 10-point peace plan Zelensky unveiled at the G20 Summit in Indonesia last November. The 193-member UN General Assembly is expected to vote on it after speeches by representatives of dozens of countries beginning on Wednesday.

According to the Ukrainian readout, Yermak brief Doval on the “extremely difficult” defence of Bakhmut city in Donetsk region. “We know that Russia is preparing certain offensive actions, and we are preparing to respond. The Russian army is very unmotivated, while Ukrainian warriors are showing extraordinary bravery and resilience. We will not stop until we liberate all our territories. We only need weapons,” he said.

While Ukraine continues fighting on the battlefield, it has simultaneously proposed a 10-point peace plan with comprehensive answers to the “question of what needs to be done to end the war in a sustainable and just manner”, he said. Yermak described the draft resolution as a document based on fundamental principles such as the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states within internationally recognised borders.

Yermak underlined the importance of forming a new effective global security system to replace the ineffective one that existed until February 24, 2022.

“This resolution is fundamental for us because it restores respect for international law and the UN Charter...It is very important to protect the territorial integrity of any state in the world in order to prevent any attempts by one country to appropriate the territory of another one in the future,” he said.

These principles are shared by India and a majority of countries, Yermak said. Ukraine also welcomes any initiatives that give a chance to end the war and restore the territorial integrity of the country, but these should not be “partial temporary solutions such as a ceasefire, but a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory”, he added.

“Otherwise, peace will be unstable, and this is unacceptable for Ukraine. We are absolutely convinced that the war can and should be ended this year, so that the anniversary of the beginning of the full-scale invasion will be the first and last in our history,” Yermak said.