Jaishankar says India is now talking to Russia and Ukraine on Black Sea shipping, grain and energy

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on 4 October that India is now in direct conversations with both Russia and Ukraine on Black Sea shipping safety, grain exports, energy exports and possible non-attack arrangements. He placed the shift at the Munich Leaders' Meeting in New Delhi, and he was explicit that the talks are still open.

"Our position on that conflict has been very clear, which is that we would like to see an end to this conflict. And we believe that this will require dialogue and diplomacy," Jaishankar said. He added that New Delhi had advocated that line for years, and that "in recent months, we have got a little bit more involved beyond advocacy." He then named the subjects: "We are trying to be helpful, starting with the Black Sea safety of shipping issue, but going beyond that to cover some immediate concerns which both of them have on grain exports, on energy exports, on non-attack possibilities. Those are ongoing conversations right now."

He did not call the work formal mediation. He also did not publish the text of any Indian paper. The useful fact is narrower than a peace plan and more concrete than a slogan. India is discussing a limited set of arrangements that both capitals have an immediate reason to want, and it is doing so with both of them at the same time.

What Kyiv has already said

The disclosure sits next to a statement from Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha. He said Kyiv had received four proposals aimed at securing a ceasefire, and he described the Indian one as "the most comprehensive." Sybiha also said Ukraine was prepared to consider an energy and Black Sea truce, and that India had, for the first time, signalled a willingness to play a role in that process. The Indian government has not confirmed the contents of that paper.

Jaishankar's first stand-alone bilateral visit to Ukraine came on 3 September, when he stood beside Sybiha in Kyiv. He said then that India was ready to help end the war "in any manner" if the parties wanted the assistance. He repeated the line that "this is not an era of war" and that "solutions will not emerge from the battlefield." He recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meeting President Vladimir Putin in Bishkek two days earlier, had said that "endless war must now give way to the end of war." Jaishankar added in Kyiv: "Every passing day of conflict only means more deaths and more destruction."

Why the Black Sea is the first item

The shipping file is not abstract for New Delhi. On 18 July the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier MV Omorfi was attacked by drones while transiting Russian territorial waters in the Black Sea. Chief Officer Sagar Gupta was killed. India summoned Ukrainian ambassador Oleksandr Polishchuk on 27 July and conveyed its strong concern. On 25 July the MV AGN Ragnar, with four Indian nationals aboard, was hit while docked at port. The next day the Ministry of External Affairs issued a maritime security advisory telling Indian nationals seeking work on vessels in or transiting the Black Sea to assess the security situation with care. The ministry said the region remained highly volatile and that attacks on merchant vessels had increased significantly since April.

A day after the Omorfi attack, on 19 July, the Guinea-Bissau-flagged MV Golden Leo was struck while leaving Odesa. Ukraine attributed that attack to Russia. Four Indian seafarers were killed and another Indian was critically injured. India summoned Russian chargé d'affaires Vladimir Ladanov on 21 July and conveyed grave concern and condemnation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was in contact with India, and he defended Russian action against vessels Moscow said were carrying ammunition and weapons for Ukraine.

A limited non-attack understanding on commercial shipping would therefore land on a file India has already protested to both capitals. Grain and energy sit on the same sea lane. Black Sea grain exports and Russian energy shipments share the risk that has already killed Indian crew.

The energy interest is now two-way

Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries and oil-export infrastructure have tightened the crude available to Indian refiners. Provisional tanker data put India's imports of Russian oil down 26 percent in August from the previous month. India has been the leading buyer of seaborne Russian crude since 2022. Damage to Russian refining capacity has also produced a reverse flow. The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air recorded Russia importing a record 172,000 tonnes of oil products in August, more than seven times the previous monthly high, with India accounting for 70 percent of those imports.

That is a direct commercial reason for New Delhi to care about an energy non-attack arrangement, separate from the diplomatic line it has held since 2022. Direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations have been stalled for years. Limited ceasefire ideas have circulated. Jaishankar's 4 October remarks do not close any of the territorial questions. They do put three files, shipping, grain and energy, into active conversation, with a Ukrainian minister already ranking an Indian paper above three others.

The next test is whether either capital treats those conversations as a draft that can be dated and signed, or as another round of contacts that stays off paper. Jaishankar said the talks are ongoing. He did not give a deadline.