Two Wars: No Negotiations on the Russia-Ukraine Front

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The World is seeing two wars – one in the Middle East, now 52 days and another between Russia and Ukraine in the fifth year. While Iran and the US have opted for a negotiated end, there are no signs of a similar approach in Moscow despite the grievous losses suffered. Here is a review of the current state of play.

Ukraine’s National Security Advisor Rustem Umerov was in Delhi on April 17 and met his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval, and India’s External Affairs minister, Dr S Jaishankar, to review bilateral relations and discuss efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as per multiple media reports.

Jaishankar said on social media that after meeting Umerov, they discussed “bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on the Ukraine conflict”.

Doval and Umerov reviewed bilateral relations and discussed the Russia-Ukraine conflict, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on social media. Doval “reiterated India’s principled position and focus on peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy”, Jaiswal said.

Umerov said he and Doval discussed the development of bilateral ties and assessed the security situation. “The Indian side reaffirmed its consistent position on the need for a peaceful settlement based on dialogue and diplomacy,” he said in a social media post. “I am grateful for the shared understanding of the need to find solutions that will ensure a lasting peace,” Umerov added.

Umerov said in a separate social media post that he and Jaishankar discussed the “current situation on the front line, the progress of negotiations, and the prospects for achieving a just, lasting, and sustainable peace for Ukraine”.

The two sides also focused on advancing bilateral cooperation and implementing the agreements outlined in the joint statement issued by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi following his visit to Kyiv in August 2024. “I am grateful for the open and substantive dialogue. We look forward to further strengthening bilateral cooperation,” Umerov said.

While India has not directly called out Russia for the War in Ukraine, including during the G20 Joint Statement under its chairmanship in 2023, Indian Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has consistently stated, including in a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, that this is not an era of wars and dialogue and diplomacy is the way ahead.

Possibly, Mr Umerov heard the same theme from the top Indian government ministers he met this month.

This comes even as the war in Ukraine has been pushed to the background due to the West Asian “Wars,” where options for negotiations are being actively explored by the US, Iran and, less so, by Israel.

Ukraine’s National Security Advisor’s visit to New Delhi signals Kyiv’s effort to deepen engagement with countries that have maintained a modicum of strategic neutrality during the war.

Thus, the visit focused on securing Indian support for Ukraine’s peace formula, expanding humanitarian cooperation, and ensuring continued diplomatic channels with a major Global South actor.

For India, the meeting fits its broader approach of balanced, interest‑driven diplomacy: maintaining ties with Russia for defence and energy needs while engaging Ukraine to demonstrate principled neutrality.

India emphasises dialogue, territorial integrity, and cessation of hostilities, but avoids taking positions that could be seen as aligning with Western blocs.

The visit also allows India to reinforce its role as a potential mediator and responsible global actor, especially as it seeks to protect economic stability amid global disruptions. However, Russia’s inflexible approach to the war in Ukraine is further highlighted by the ongoing developments in negotiations between the United States and Iran.

While on one hand, the adversarial relations between Iran and the United States have been established over the last many decades, commencing with the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the willingness of the 2 sides to engage after a brief 40-day intense war is an indication that there is scope for compromise between traditional adversaries.

Israel and Lebanon are also holding talks in Washington, indicating that the possibility of negotiations always exists in a binary adversarial situation.

The objective of these negotiations primarily is to minimise the economic and political diplomatic while at the same time attempting to achieve the objective of subjugation of Iran by the US and removal of sanctions and retention of sovereign identity by the Iranian clerical regime.

Compare this with the Russian approach of sustaining a war at a very high intensity for the past 5 years, without accepting negotiation as a political strategy.

The result is that both Ukraine and Russia have suffered. In fact, Russia may have suffered more in terms of loss of political prestige within the geopolitical community, the economy, and the military and military-industrial complex.

Ukraine has succeeded in ensuring maintenance of its territorial sovereignty, though 20% of its territory is under Russian occupation.

Kyiv, on the other hand, has emerged as a geopolitical player in the international community.  

Ukraine is now closer to the European Union and has the support of multiple stakeholders, while the circle of friends of Russia has been circumcised, though India is a part of the same. Despite these setbacks, Moscow has made no attempts to pursue a negotiated solution, and a fifth year of fighting is on the cards.

While US President Donald Trump had campaigned that he would bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end within a day of his Presidency, today the United States is involved in conflict with Iran and thus the momentum is shifted from Ukraine.

The time for Russia and Ukraine to take a lead from the ongoing attempts to settle the Wars in the Middle East and pursue dialogue ahead.