In an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday urged him to “reach out” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and “explain to him that this war is against the interest of all”. In a televised address, he also gave a message to “ordinary Indians” and sought their support as Kyiv continues its fight on the eleventh day after Russia launched a full-scale invasion last week.
Replying to a question on the support from nations across the world, Kuleba said, “Prime Minsiter Modi, we call on him to reach out to President Putin and explain to him that this war is against (the) interest of all. The only person on the entire planet – who is interested in this war – is president Putin himself. People of Russia are not interested in this war.”
India is “one of the largest consumers of Ukrainian agricultural products and if this war continues, it’ll be difficult for us to seed new harvests,” the minister said. “So, even in terms of global and Indian food security, it’s in the best interest to stop this war,” he added.
In a tweet, Ukraine’s foreign ministry has made a similar appeal: “Ukraine is one of the guarantors of global food security. 55% — share of Ukrainian sunflower oil in world exports. Mlns of people at this very moment are eating smth delicious prepared with use sunflower oil grown. Defending Ukraine also protects the world from hunger & famine. (sic),” the tweet read.
The central government has sped up the evacuation process from the war-hit nation since last week when Kyiv closed its airspace for civlilan flights. More than 18,000 Indians have so far returned from Ukraine so far and special flights are being arranged to the neighbouring countries.
