Italian PM Meloni says India can play a role in resolving Russia-Ukraine conflict

PTI, Sep 8, 2024, 10:06 AM IST

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday said that India and China can play a role in resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“I believe China and India have a role to play in resolving the conflict. The only thing that cannot happen is to think that the conflict can be solved by abandoning Ukraine,” France 24 quoted Meloni as saying after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of a conference.

Meloni’s statement comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday named India among the three countries he is in touch with over the Ukraine conflict and said they are sincerely making efforts to resolve it.

In a separate statement, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that India could play a role in facilitating dialogue with Ukraine as Prime Minister Narendra Modi “freely communicates with Putin, Zelenskyy, and the Americans”.

“The choice of supporting Ukraine has been first and foremost a choice of national interest, and it’s a choice that won’t change,” Meloni told the annual TEHA business forum in northern Italy.

Modi, during his visit to Ukraine on August 23, the first by an Indian prime minister since the country gained independence in 1991, urged Zelenskyy to engage in direct talks with Russia, emphasising that both nations should not delay in seeking an end to the war.

The visit to Kyiv followed the prime minister’s summit with Putin six weeks earlier, a meeting that raised concerns in some Western countries.

In his meeting with Zelenskyy, the prime minister expressed his willingness to contribute personally to finding a peaceful resolution.