Prime Minister Narendra Modi told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that India is ready to mediate between Russia and Ukraine to establish food corridors, in a telephone call ahead of the Ukraine Russia peace talks that open in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. Zelenskyy welcomed the offer, and the call was followed by another between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Why it matters
The offer matters because of who is making it. India has kept channels open to both Moscow and Kyiv through nearly five years of war, buying Russian oil while hosting Ukrainian leaders, and it is one of the few large countries that can talk to both sides without being accused of taking one. A mediator needs exactly that standing, and India has spent the war building it.
The food corridors idea is practical, not symbolic. Ukraine grain feeds millions, and the war has repeatedly threatened the routes that carry it to market. A corridor that both sides respect would protect food supplies and give the talks something concrete to agree on, even if the bigger questions of territory and security stay unresolved. Ukraine grain feeds millions, and the war has repeatedly threatened the routes that carry it to market, from the Black Sea to the ports that serve Africa and Asia.
What happens next
The timing is deliberate. The call came on the eve of the first direct Ukraine Russia talks in more than nine months, and it was the clearest indication yet of the mediatory role that New Delhi is now playing between Moscow and Kyiv. Europe will send representatives to Abu Dhabi, but India offer is the one that reaches both capitals directly. The call was followed by another between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in the clearest indication yet of the mediatory role that New Delhi is now playing.
What happens next will be decided in Abu Dhabi, where the talks run on Tuesday and Wednesday, and in whether the food corridors idea survives contact with the negotiators. For India, the offer is a step from bystander to broker. For Ukraine, it is one more channel, and in a war this long, every channel counts.
