Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reach out to Russian President Vladimir Putin with an appeal to stop the war, the Hindustan Times reported.

“Prime Minister Modi, we call on him to reach out to President Putin,” Kuleba said during a televised address. “Explain to him [Putin] that this war is against [the] interest of all. The only person on the entire planet – who is interested in this war – is President Putin himself.”

The Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24 entered its eleventh day on Sunday. Putin has described the invasion as a “special military operation” aimed at dislodging “neo-Nazis” ruling Ukraine.

According to the United Nations human rights office, at least 351 civilians have been killed and over 6,00,000 have fled Ukraine since the invasion began. On the Russian side, over 498 of its troops have died, according to the country’s military.

During Saturday’s address, Kuleba pointed out that India is one of the largest consumers of Ukrainian agricultural products, according to the Hindustan Times.

“If this war continues, it’ll be difficult for us to seed new harvests,” he said. “So, even in terms of global and Indian food security, it’s in the best interest to stop this war.”

India’s bilateral trade with Ukraine stood at 2.3 billion dollars in 2021-’22, according to Business Standard. It mainly includes agriculture products, metallurgical products, plastics and polymers.

In his address, Kuleba also called upon ordinary Indians to put pressure on Russia to stop the military assault, ANI reported. “Ukraine is fighting only because we were attacked,” he said. “We have to defend our land because Putin does not recognise our right to exist.”

He also called upon Moscow to allow civilians, including foreign students to evacuate through humanitarian corridors.

“The governments of India, China, Nigeria – whose students are locked out in Sumy and Kharkiv – I urge you to ask Moscow to stop fire and allow civilians to leave through Ukrainian territory,” the Ukrainian foreign minister said.

Based on a list prepared by student groups, there are at least 687 Indian students stranded in Sumy Oblast, a district in north-east Ukraine, just 48 kms from the Russian border.

A ceasefire to evacuate civilians from the southern port city of Mariupol and Volnovakha in eastern Ukraine fell apart on Saturday. Ukrainian officials accused Russia of resuming heavy bombing to block residents from leaving.

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