NEW DELHI: Foreign minister S Jaishankar spoke to his Ukraine counterpart Andrii Sybiha on Thursday and reiterated India’s position that it supports an early end to the Ukraine conflict and the establishment of enduring peace. Ukraine said it’s banking on India’s “active role” in full cessation of hostilities.“Discussed our bilateral cooperation as well as the Ukraine conflict,” Jaishankar said in a post on X. This was the first high-level contact between India and Ukraine since PM Narendra Modi’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in China on Monday.

Sybiha said they spoke about strengthening the Ukraine-India partnership and the “further implementation of agreements reached by our leaders, President @ZelenskyyUA and Prime Minister @NarendraModi”. Zelenskyy had spoken to Modi ahead of latter’s meeting with Putin and stressed the significance of a ceasefire in facilitating peace talks. “I informed my Indian colleague about the current battlefield situation and Ukraine’s efforts to achieve a just peace. We rely on India’s authoritative voice and active role in supporting the full cessation of hostilities and broader international peace efforts,” said the Ukraine minister.“We agreed to continue tangible development of our bilateral relations,” he said.