Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he believes Prime Minister Narendra Modi can help end the war with Russia. “This is his enormous value in any conflict. This is a huge value of India,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Times of India.
During the recent BRICS summit, Prime Minister Modi had expressed his desire to work for peace in the context of the war in Ukraine. Sharing his thoughts on the Prime Minister's speech, Zelenskyy said: “Modi is the Prime Minister of a very big country – from the perspective of population, impact, influence and economy. Such a country cannot simply say that it is interested in the end of a war. We are all interested in that. All leaders will tell you tomorrow that they would like to end the war… this is very common, especially for such a big country like India.”
Countries like India could easily facilitate the end of the war by blocking the Russian economy, the Ukrainian president pointed out.
“Real influence on blocking the Russian economy, blocking cheap energy sources and blocking Russia's defense-industrial complex will lead to a decrease in Moscow's ability to wage wars against us,” he said. “Twenty major economies can put Putin in place to end the war. They can. Not only by stimulating it, but conversely to slow down all its desires and you don't have to say that we want peace. You must take action because daily war kills people,” he added.
On what India can do specifically for Ukrainian children, he said Prime Minister Modi should bring back at least a thousand children who have been forcibly deported. “You can join the coalition that brings children back. You can call Putin and ask him who he is. You can force him to bring the children back. Prime Minister Modi can do that. He really has a huge influence. He can only say specifically how many Ukrainian children I will have so that I can bring them back to Ukraine. Just say that straight away. Give me 1,000 children who will be returned to Ukraine. This is the real step. At least let Prime Minister Modi bring back 1,000,” he said.
If every influential person like Prime Minister Modi can bring back a thousand, we will be able to bring back the majority of our children, Zelenskyy said, that is what needs to be done.
“You must raise this issue at the G20 meeting,” he added.
