New Delhi

Indiais seen as a credible country that can help in the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine because it is one of few major powers with working relationships with both countries, according to a report in Al Jazeera.

It cited a foreign affairs expert as saying that India’s strategic autonomy puts it in a position to push for peace because New Delhi is “friends with both” sides.

India has also been even-handed. In July, it summoned Moscow’s charge d’affaires to condemn a Russian strike on a merchant vessel that killed 10 people, including four Indian crew members. Days later, it summoned Ukraine’s ambassador over an Indian seafarer killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on the MV Omorfi, the report observes.

It highlights that India is also an importer of goods from both Russia and Ukraine. In the 2025-26, India imported 1.46 million tonnes of sunflower oil from Russia and 443,000 tonnes from Ukraine, according to the Indian Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA), alongside large volumes of Russian crude.

The article cites Maximilian Hess, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, as saying that Zelenskyy approached India “because they have leverage over Moscow, and they are still one of the few major buyers of its oil.”

He added that a large amount of Russian money sits in the Indian financial system, which Moscow wants to keep access to.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, about a third of the world’s grain exports passed through the Black Sea, with Ukraine supplying a tenth of global wheat exports and 15 percent of maize. Disruption hits food-importing countries hardest, particularly in Africa and parts of Asia, the report states.

Indian officials point out that India as a leading voice of the Global South is keen that food exports to these developing nations resume to prevent adequate supplies and controlling rising inflation.

Both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have discussed the issue of opening the food corridor over a phone call. “India is ready to mediate in establishing food corridors, and we are counting on these efforts to continue,” Zelenskyy posted on X after call. The leaders discussed Russia’s blocking of grain exports in the Black Sea, he said.

PM Modi said India was ready to contribute “in every possible way” towards a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, during a visit to Kyiv in September, spoke of a potential pause on strikes against Black Sea shipping and energy infrastructure. On October 4, he said India was talking to both Russia and Ukraine about shipping safety, grain and energy exports and “non-attack possibilities”.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha earlier called India’s proposal “the broadest”, because it covers both the Black Sea and energy infrastructure. The US plan offers only a halt to strikes on energy facilities. Meanwhile, delegations from Moscow and Kyiv on Wednesday held a second straight day of US-brokered talks on ways of ending the war started by Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine nearly five years ago.

Hopes are low for any breakthrough in the first meeting in nine months between the delegations, although US officials say they are determined to revive peace efforts that so far have failed to deliver significant results. “We are starting the second day of negotiations,” Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service who leads Kyiv's delegation in Abu Dhabi, said on social media.

The envoys met for four hours Tuesday in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which was chosen as a neutral venue. The talks, mediated by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff, were due to conclude later Wednesday.

The context of the negotiations has changed since the last meeting in February in Geneva. The Trump administration has to reckon with Democrats, who could demand more support for Ukraine, taking over the US Congress in January following the US midterm elections.

Also, Russia's wartime economy is under heavy strain, and Ukraine is reeling from devastating aerial attacks on its power grid.

Umerov said that Wednesday would begin with three-way talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States, with Kyiv's delegation meeting afterwards with European officials.

Moscow doesn't want European countries, which are concerned about Russia's conduct and broader intentions on the continent, involved in the direct negotiations. However, representatives of European governments, the European Union and NATO were in Abu Dhabi and were consulting with the Ukrainian delegation, officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday's session was “constructive and quite substantive”.