India's FM: Ukraine should decide whether Russia will be present at second Peace Summit

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said this at a briefing on Friday, Ukrinform reports.

"It is their [Ukraine's] initiative in which we have taken part. […] I think there was a very open discussion on this. What will be the next steps? Who exactly will come? Will the Russians come or not? You know that's really not an issue for us to take a call. That's an issue which presumably the government of Ukraine is dealing with," he said.

The minister also refrained from commenting on a peace plan presented by China. At the same time, he noted that this is a matter for "the parties concerned."

"Regarding whatever China may have proposed, I think it's not us for us to respond. I think it is for the parties concerned to respond. So I would suggest you direct that question to the Ukrainian government," Jaishankar said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Ukraine on August 23.

On August 22, Modi said during his trip to Warsaw that India believes that no war ends on the battlefield and supports diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible. He added that India is ready to cooperate with other friendly nations to provide as much support as possible to peacekeeping efforts to restore peace in Ukraine.

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