India’s Narendra Modi has arrived in Kiev for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, marking the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Ukraine since Kiev earned independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The visit comes at a critical point in Ukraine’s war, with Ukrainian forces remaining in Russia’s western Kursk area after their entry on August 6, and Russian troops making gradual but steady progress in Ukraine’s east.
The visit, which comes after Modi’s journey to Moscow in July, is significant for Western-backed Kiev, which has been attempting to foster diplomatic connections in the Global South in order to obtain a fair settlement to the war.
“I look forward to the opportunity to share perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict,” Modi said before the trip. “As a friend and partner, we hope for an early return of peace and stability in the region.”
Modi’s visit to Moscow last month coincided with a major Russian missile strike on Ukraine, which targeted a children’s hospital. Following the incident, Modi used passionate words to offer an implied rebuke to Putin during their summit.
Zelenskyy slammed the trip, calling it a “huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most ‘bloody criminal in Moscow’ on such a day”.
India, which has long had close economic and military relations with Moscow, has officially condemned the deaths of innocent civilians in the conflict.
However, it has also expanded its economic connections with Moscow in the aftermath of Western sanctions and trade cuts.
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