Jaishankar made the remarks after being confronted by a Polish journalist during his visit to Warsaw. The journalist referred to comments made by the Indian diplomat during his official visit to Kyiv, where he had said that curtailing India's purchase of Russian oil would not stop the war.
During a joint press conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, the journalist asked Jaishankar, "You have said India stopping Russian oil purchases will not end the Ukraine war."
"Let's diagnose the problem correctly. This conflict has gone on for 5 years. It will not be stopped by someone not buying oil. It will end with diplomacy," Jaishankar replied.
Jaishankar had elaborated on the issue during his trip to Kyiv. After meeting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, he said, "This conflict, which is today in its fifth year, will not be solved because somebody is buying or not buying oil or alumina or minerals or metals or fertiliser. This conflict will be solved by dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiation."
The Indian foreign minister also highlighted the challenges of ensuring energy security for India's 1.4 billion people amid difficult global energy conditions. He maintained that both Ukraine's and India's perspectives on the issue should be respected.
"I think it's also important that all of you understand the challenges of providing energy for 1.4 billion people at a time when the world energy situation is very, very difficult. So, I would say, I mean, this is something where clearly the Ukraine side has its perspective, which we respect, and we have ours, which I would expect others to also respect," he said.
Jaishankar's latest remarks in Warsaw repeated India's position that restricting Russian oil purchases would not itself resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which he said would end through dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiation.
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