India Ready to Help Broker Black Sea Food Corridors, Zelenskyy Says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said India is ready to help broker "food corridors" through the Black Sea, after a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A food corridor is a term for an agreed, protected sea route that lets grain and other food shipments leave port safely.
Zelenskyy said the two leaders discussed Russia's blocking of grain exports through the Black Sea. Both countries have attacked one another's ports in 2026, disrupting grain and oilseed exports from the region. Modi, for his part, reaffirmed India's commitment to contribute "in every possible way" to a peaceful resolution of the war. He did not mention food corridors or the Black Sea.
Hours after the Modi-Zelenskyy call, India's External Affairs Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Jaishankar said their conversation focused on the war and "ongoing diplomatic initiatives."
India's interest in the shipping routes has a commercial side. India is the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils, and it buys most of its sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine. Al Jazeera reported that India's edible oil imports fell 7 percent in September, and that its sunflower oil imports dropped to 108,837 tonnes that month, the lowest level since April 2022.
Jaishankar has been discussing the issue for some time. During a visit to Kyiv in September, he reportedly spoke of a possible pause in strikes on Black Sea shipping and energy infrastructure. On October 4, he said India was talking to both Russia and Ukraine about shipping safety, grain and energy exports, and "non-attack possibilities."
By early October, Kyiv had received four ceasefire proposals, from India, Turkiye, Egypt and the United States. A ceasefire is a formal agreement to stop fighting, which may be partial or cover the whole conflict. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described India's proposal as "the broadest," because it covers both the Black Sea and energy infrastructure. The US plan, by contrast, offers only a halt to strikes on energy facilities.
Kyiv has said it will accept an energy truce and a Black Sea truce only if the two come together. Russia has rejected partial ceasefires and has insisted on a comprehensive peace agreement instead.
The shipping dispute has also had a human cost. On November 3, India's Ministry of External Affairs said five Indian nationals had been killed in attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea, and two more had gone missing.
Russia and Ukraine are set to return to the negotiating table after a nine-month pause, in US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi.
