Russia, Ukraine have to negotiate, India willing to give advice: Jaishankar

Underlining that the Ukraine conflict cannot be resolved on the battlefield, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday that Russia and Ukraine have to negotiate, and if they want advice, India is always willing to give. Jaishankar made the comments while responding to questions at the Annual Ambassadors' Conference of the German Foreign Office in Berlin, a day after he held a "useful conversation" with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the margins of the India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers' meeting in the Saudi capital.

"We don't think this conflict is going to be resolved on the battlefield. At some stage, there's going to be some negotiation. When there is a negotiation, the main parties - Russia and Ukraine - have to be at that negotiation," he said. Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits to Russia and Ukraine, he said that the Indian leader has said in Moscow and Kyiv that this is not an era of war. "We don't think you're going to get a solution out of the battlefield. We think you've got to negotiate... If you want advice, we are always willing to give it...," he added.

Noting that countries have differences and neighbours have differences, Jaishankar said that conflicts are not a good way of resolving differences. In his interaction, Jaishankar also said that the Quad has been a successful experiment. India is a member of QUAD - a four-member strategic security dialogue that also includes the US, Japan and Australia. China regards Quad as an alliance, aimed at containing its rise and is bitterly critical of the grouping. " W e have revived the Quad. It is a major diplomatic platform and India is committed to it," he said.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin named India among the three countries he is constantly in touch over the Ukraine conflict and said they are sincerely making efforts to resolve it. Speaki n g at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, Putin said, "If there is a desire of Ukraine to carry on with the negotiations, I can do that."His remarks came within two weeks after Prime Minister Modi's historic visit to Ukraine, where he held talks with President President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"We respect our friends and partners, who, I believe, sincerely seek to resolve all issues surrounding this conflict, primarily China, Brazil and India. I constantly keep in touch with our colleagues on this issue, Putin was quoted as saying by Russia's TASS news agency.