Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy's telephonic conversation with the G20 president, India, was not at all surprising. It was also not any clear indicator of India's "rising stature" in the global geopolitics. Volodymyr Zelenskyy had presented his 10-point peace formula for the first time at the G-20 summit in Bali a month ago. It was almost customary for Zelenskyy to reach out to the new G20 president i.e., India. However, it is an undisputed fact that India is better placed than many other nations to take the Ukraine-Russia conflict towards a peaceful resolution. Apparently, all the parties — including Zelenskyy's Ukraine, Putin's Russia and Modi's India — are striving to end the war, but the prospects of the same remain elusive. Starting with Zelensky's 10-point peace formula, it puts preconditions that Russia will find it difficult to adhere to. The formula seeks the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, apart from restoring Ukraine's state borders with Russia. Effectively, Ukraine is demanding a return of a large swathe of territories — almost one-fifth of Ukraine's total area — that Russia has captured, including those during the Crimean annexation. Russia mixed no words in denying to give up any territory it has taken by force. Zelenskyy's maximalist approach is understandable, as it is a matter of Ukraine's territorial integrity, and because Russia, as and when it returns to a comfortable position, may again attack from the bases it has captured. Apart from restoration of Ukraine's state boundary with Russia, the peace formula also calls for "justice" which entails the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute "Russian war criminals." Irrespective of Zelenskyy's stated intent of restoring peace, his 10-point peace formula — backed by the United States — is unlikely to break the ice between the warring nations. The inherent make-up of the peace formula makes it vulnerable to failure. What concessions (if any) Zelenskyy is willing to make, remains to be seen! The Ukrainian President, after all, has the mighty US as a back-up force; and he very recently managed to elicit a USD 1.85-billion military aid from the US, along with the PATRIOT system. Its peace formula notwithstanding, Ukraine is now in the driving seat and is willing to take on Russia to re-capture its lost territories — making peace seem elusive. As for India, after Zelensky's phone call to Modi, India's Permanent Ambassador to United Nations, Ruchira Kamboj, reiterated the country's unchanging position of urging "immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to the violence", and calling upon both sides to "return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue". India has also extended support for all diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. This stand, though firm, is only a chorus of what both Ukraine and Russia are talking about. Even the prime aggressor, Russia, is voicing the need for a "diplomatic solution" to the conflict. India's importance lies not just in what it says, but in the fact that, on paper at least, it has maintained an equidistance from both the warring nations. Practically, India's leaning towards its all-weather ally, Russia, is not hidden from anyone. If anything, the bilateral relations, particularly on the trade side, have only strengthened during the Ukraine-Russia war. Not just India is buying crude oil at a more-than-ever scale from Russia, but is also willing to export raw materials for the sanction-squeezed Russian industries. Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, is learnt to have said that it is "morally inappropriate" for India to justify its purchase of Russian oil. India, as the G20 president, is most likely to fail on most of the contentious points made in Zelenskyy's peace formula. It is unlikely that it will distance itself away from Russia in any major way. But Zelenskyy's reach-out has provided India an opportunity to get closer to Ukraine. It may be noted here that apart from Modi-Zelensky conversation, Ajit Doval and Andriy Yermak — Head of the Office of President of Ukraine — are also learnt to be in talks. Russia, too, is seeking an end to the conflict, but certainly not on the terms put forth by Ukraine. There are two possibilities from here — either India can use its proximity with both nations to make them reach a middle ground, or West-backed Ukraine will continue the war until it attains a position from where it can make the maximum bargain. In the second case, a more unpredictable question is: will Russia concede anytime soon?