Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba — who has been a vocal critic of India’s decision to continue with oil purchases from Russia despite its invasion of his country — on Friday made out a case for restoring cooperation with India to what it was before February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.

In India for a two-day visit that included a meeting with his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar and delegation-level talks besides engagement with think tanks and foreign policy wonks, Kuleba also sought India’s participation in the inaugural Peace Summit that is scheduled to be held in Switzerland this spring.

“We paid specific attention to the Peace Formula and next steps on the path of its implementation. We also co-chaired the Ukrainian-Indian intergovernmental commission review meeting and agreed to restore the level of cooperation between our countries that existed prior to the full-scale war launched by Russia, as well as identify new promising projects to take our relations to the next level,” Kuleba said in a statement released by the Ukrainian foreign ministry after his meeting with Jaishankar.

Apart from soliciting India’s presence at the Peace Summit, Ukraine is hoping that India will be able to get Russia to join this initiative. However, a TASS report from Moscow quoted Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova as stating: “Russia does not intend to participate in such a conference. Zelensky’s formula is nothing but alchemy”.

Despite India’s refusal to join the West in condemning Russia for invading Ukraine and cut off trade with Moscow — particularly oil trade that is said to be funding the war — India and Ukraine have been in regular contact at various levels; the most recent being a telephonic conversation earlier this month between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Still, this is the first time since the war began that a senior functionary from Kyiv has travelled to New Delhi.

About his meeting with Kuleba, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar later said in a post on X: “An open and wide-ranging conversation with Ukraine FM @DmytroKuleba this afternoon. Our discussions focused on the ongoing conflict and its wider ramifications. Exchanged views on various initiatives in that context. Spoke as well on global and regional issues of interest to both of us. Reiterated our commitment to strengthen the overall relationship, including bilateral cooperation.’’