EAM Jaishankar: Russia-Ukraine conflict is a war ‘without winners’

India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a "war without winners” and that its solution lies in negotiation rather than trade, as he wrapped up talks in Warsaw that also covered several areas and a deepening India-Poland partnership. The visit comes ahead of Poland PM Donald Tusk's India visit in October.

Speaking after meetings with Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, Jaishankar recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks in Bishkek that “endless wars must give way to an end to war.”

The conflict, now in its fifth year, was producing “more deaths, more destruction” for the parties and higher costs for the rest of the world, he said.

Asked about India’s purchases of Russian energy, Jaishankar was clear: the solution to the war “is not in trade, the solution is in negotiation.” India has been importing Russian energy, which has been criticised in the Western world, but New Delhi has pointed to the needs of the billion people amid global energy security challenges.

India had remained in “continuous touch” with both Moscow and Kyiv and held “detailed discussions” so that “ideas, suggestions can be developed in some ways” to help bring about a “cessation of conflict,” India's foreign minister added. Sikorski said Warsaw’s view of Indian purchases of Russian oil was “well known,” but described Jaishankar’s explanation of New Delhi’s position as “eloquent.”

Indian foreign minister arrived in Warsaw after talks in Kyiv. He was earlier in Moscow, where he met Russian foreign minister Lavrov & Russian President Putin. The Warsaw stop followed India’s recent high-level contacts with both Russia and Ukraine and shows New Delhi’s bid to keep channels open while expanding its European footprint.

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Jaishankar framed the war against a wider backdrop of strain on food, fuel and fertiliser supplies and fragile supply chains. As “political democracies, market economies and open societies,” India and Poland could help shape global debates, he said, including at the United Nations.

On bilateral ties, he pointed to an uptick in trade and defence cooperation and “new possibilities” in space, digital technology and artificial intelligence. Fresh agreements were being planned on critical minerals, cybersecurity, space and clean coal that would add “texture to ties.” Indology and Sanskrit programmes at Polish universities were doing well, he noted.

India’s relationship with the European Union had “deepened visibly,” with the proposed India-EU free trade agreement as the “centrepiece” that would “open economic opportunities.” Poland, he said, “stands to gain.” India regarded the EU as an important pole in a changing world order.

Pressed on irregular Indian migrants in Poland, Jaishankar said New Delhi “strongly, firmly support[s] legalised mobility of people.” Europe faced demand for Indian talent in semiconductors, automobiles, medicine and nursing. A globalised economy, he argued, was “not just for capital [and] goods” but also for “talent and skills.”