With Friday marking one year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv has reached out to Delhi for support on a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) underlining the urgency to find “lasting peace” in the country.

The call for support was made by Andriy Yermak, who heads the office of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a phone conversation with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The move comes less than two weeks after Doval met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The text of the UNGA resolution, which has been drafted by Ukraine in consultation with allies and discussed with several countries, will be put to vote at the end of a special emergency session of the UNGA in the next couple of days.

It underscores the urgency to find “a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations”, and calls on UN members and international organisations to support that effort.

European nations, including France and Germany, have reached out to India as well to support the resolution. French diplomatic sources confirmed such a move from their side but indicated that India will likely “abstain” from the vote.

In the last one year, India has abstained several times while voting on the resolutions at the UN involving Ukraine. However, it has always underlined respect for the UN charter, territorial sovereignty and integrity in its statements, while explaining the votes.

According to an official statement by Zelenskyy’s office, Yermak told Doval during the call that Ukraine is interested in the broadest possible support for the resolution, in particular from countries of the Global South. In January, while hosting a two-day virtual summit on “Voice of the Global South”, India had portrayed itself as the leading voice among the developing and less-developed countries in the region.

According to the Ukrainian statement, Yermak told Doval: “Cooperation with India is very important to us. We believe that you will support our resolution, as it contains very correct wording on the inviolability of borders and territorial integrity. Our goals are transparent and clear: we do not claim a single centimetre of Russian territory, we just want to get ours back.”

He said: “This resolution is fundamental for us because it restores respect for international law and the UN Charter in the world. It is very important to protect the territorial integrity of any state in the world in order to prevent any attempts by one country to appropriate the territory of another one in the future.”

During the conversation, the statement said, Yermak also informed Doval that “Russia is preparing certain offensive actions, and we are preparing to respond”. Ukraine, it said, has also proposed a ten-point peace plan that provides answers to the question of what needs to be done to end the war in a sustainable and just manner.

The draft resolution on support for principles of the UN Charter, which forms the basis of the peace formula, will be considered by the UN General Assembly on February 23, it said. The formula calls for withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, release of prisoners, restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and guarantees on nuclear safety, food and energy security.

The top Ukrainian official, however, pointed out that there should not be partial or temporary solutions, such as a ceasefire, but a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory. Otherwise, peace will be unstable, and this is unacceptable for Ukraine, he said. ADVERTISEMENT “We are absolutely convinced that the war can and should be ended this year, so that the anniversary of the beginning of the full-scale invasion will be the first and last in our history,” he said. After the call, the statement said, Yermak and Doval agreed to maintain close contact on the eve of the UNGA vote.  On December 26 last year, during a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra  Modi, Zelenskyy had sought India’s support on the “peace formula” he had proposed on his US visit the previous week. This was the fourth telephone conversation between Modi and Zelenskyy since February 24 last year when Russia invaded Ukraine.