
The Ukraine issue will come up in the discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden, a White House official said. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, however, said to what “degree specifically they will talk about a peace summit or a peace proposal, I cannot say right now”. PM Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will host him at a State Dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. Kirby also told press conference here on Tuesday that the US welcomes the role of a third-party country involved in the Ukrainian peace process. He said that as for the role of other nations, “we have also long said we would welcome the role of a third-party country involved in a peace process, and we believe that there could be such a role for a third-party country in the peace process”. But again, in order for that role to be sustainable and to have any chance at success, it is got to start with a “complete understanding of the Ukrainian perspective here and a complete and utter commitment to the UN Charter, to the idea of territorial integrity, to Ukraine’s sovereignty along its internationally recognised borders”, Kirby said. He was responding to a question on if the Ukraine war would be discussed during the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Biden. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the war in Ukraine will come up this week, during the State Visit, with Prime Minister Modi. No question about it,” Kirby said.
