As Zelenskyy’s version of ‘peace’ is as dangerous as Putin’s idea of war, G20 India summit may be last chance for amity

“I get by with a little help from my friends”, goes the Beatles’ 1967 hit, also the theme song of The Wonder Years. For his admirers in the West, Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s fight against Russia has been nothing short of admirable. And in all this, he has received a lot of help, and not little, from his friends. However, his visit to Rome early this May changed a few things. Not only did Zelenskyy spurn Pope Francis’s offer of intermediation and request to adhere to a ceasefire, but he also underlined that Putin’s war would now be ended by his own ‘peace’ plan. Zelenskyy’s peace plan is a fight for every inch of territory, it’s a victim’s peace with retributive justice against the aggressor, where neither Putin nor his Russia will have any say in the matter, Ukraine will dictate the terms. While brushing aside the Vatican’s offer as an honest broker, he also dismissed any intervention from China. Not only did Zelenskyy refuse the Pope’s suggestions and offers for assistance, but he also asked in no uncertain terms that the Pope and the Vatican condemn Russia unequivocally. After these grand declarations, Zelenskyy, who has stayed close to Kyiv since the Russian attack, has embarked on a whirlwind world tour to enlist global support for his final push, which he hopes will not only free Ukrainian territory of Russian occupation but also give shattered Ukrainian lives “justice” and a just peace. Apart from the US and his European allies, who have unitedly supported him since this invasion, he has now ventured into the Arab league, which has a strong base of Chinese and Russian allies, attending the Arab League meeting in Jeddah as a guest of Prince Mohamed bin Salman. Thanks to Chinese intervention Syrian President Bashar al Assad, who is backed by Russia, has been welcomed back into the Arab league after 12 years as Saudi Arabia in recent months has consolidated its relations with China, accepting Beijing as a broker to negotiate a complex peace with Iran, a move which is expected to give it respite in the endless Yemen war. In exchange, China will now be able to peacefully build its port in Jizan, which increases its presence at the mouth of the Indian ocean and adds a pearl to its string of pearls near Gwadar port in Pakistan. Many of the present Arab states in Jeddah have warm relations with Russia, however Zelenskyy appeared to invoke the Arab world’s own troubled history of invasion and occupation, saying their nations would understand that Ukraine “will never submit” to any foreigners or colonizers. “That’s why we fight.” After Jeddah Zelenskyy is scheduled to make an appearance at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan — the site of the first nuclear attack in modern warfare. It is bittersweet that Zelenskyy will make his appeal for unlimited support from the west at a place which has weathered the effects of a nuclear attack which ended World War II, especially when the continuation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict brings about the very real threat of the use of nuclear weapons by the Russians. Zelenskyy’s in-person presence in Hiroshima was seen as an attempt to garner more support and arms from the West, until US President Joe Biden declared to the present G7 leaders that the US was training Ukrainian pilots on F16’s, which could be decisive in the coming weeks of the war. This confirms that the Ukrainian Presidents in person attendance is to convince his allies to provide F16’s and advanced weaponry to Ukraine such that it can end the war on its own terms. How Russia will retaliate to this will remain to be seen. Despite Zelenskyy ruling out all efforts for diplomatic peace, all eyes are on his meetings with the leaders of India and Brazil, both countries which have tried to strike a middle ground in the conflict. The Indian Prime Minister is attending the summit as a guest of his Japanese counterpart and will be seeing Zelenskyy in person for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskyy is expected to try and seek stronger support from PM Modi and India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to see Russian President Putin in India for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in July. Last year at the SCO summit in Samarkand, Modi told Putin that “today’s era is not the era for war”, words repeated by other world leaders as well as adopted at the G20 Indonesia declaration. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has quietly created an unnoticed grouping: Vatican and India. Both countries seek a ceasefire and peace between Russia and Ukraine, though Zelenskyy believes both haven’t done enough to isolate Russia. Both the Vatican and India represent peace and non-violence in their own way and neither advocate revenge as a form of justice. However, in an age of issue-based groupings, Francis’ Vatican and Modi’s India are unlikely bedfellows, one is the smallest country in the world, it’s only Christian theocracy, the other is the world’s largest democracy, led by a nationalistic Hindu leader. The Pope has a visit pending to India, an invitation he accepted from Prime Minister Modi during his visit to Rome for the Italian G20 in 2021. It may be time that Modi invited the Pope as a guest for the G20 heads of state in Delhi in September, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping also expected in attendance. After all the Vatican is a moral superpower, and sometimes what diplomacy and armies are unable to achieve, prayer and faith are. Whatever the conclusions of the Modi-Zelenskyy bilateral meeting in Hiroshima will be, it seems more blood is destined to be split before any peace between Russia and Ukraine. While Zelenskyy predicts the end of the conflict on his terms by the end of this year, such wars are often endless as we have seen with Yemen and Syria. A stalemate which continues to kill, maim, and destroy. Zelenskyy’s supporters want him to fight for every inch of territory — and so his peace plan is to fight. Putin, if he gives up, may not survive — so he will continue to fight. The G20 Heads of State summit in Delhi in September may be the last chance to arrive at a compromise and a cessation of hostilities. Hopefully, India and other G20 members can extend the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam to these warring cousins and stop an escalation the world can ill afford, which may push the world to another war of wars. The author is an Indo-Italian entrepreneur and has over 24 years of leadership and entrepreneurial experience across a wide range of disciplines including pharmaceuticals, technology, renewable energy, strategic consulting, not-for-profit and development in over 30 countries. He is also the founder of the Dialogue on Democracy. Views expressed are personal. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.