PM Modi to hold wide-ranging talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv

Kyiv, Aug 23 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold wide-ranging talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a brief but historic visit to Ukraine on Friday that is focused on exploring ways to find a negotiated settlement to the ongoing conflict in the country.

It would be the first-ever visit to Ukraine by an Indian prime minister since Ukraine became independent in 1991.

The prime minister’s visit to Kyiv comes amid Ukraine’s fresh military offensive into Russian territory.

Modi is arriving in Kyiv from Poland onboard a ‘Rail Force One’ under tight security, in the second and final leg of his two-nation trip, and comes nearly six weeks after his trip to Moscow.

The schedule of the prime minister in the Ukrainian capital is being kept under wraps considering security protocols.

Modi is visiting Ukraine nearly six weeks after his high-profile trip to Moscow during which he held extensive talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The visit is being seen by many as a diplomatic balancing act.

Following talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Modi said on Thursday that the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia are a matter of “deep concern” and that “dialogue and diplomacy” is the way forward to restore peace.

Since the beginning of the conflict in 2022, India has been calling for resolving it peacefully through talks.

“This is India’s firm belief that no problem can be solved on the battlefield. In any crisis, the loss of lives of innocent people has become the biggest challenge for the whole of humanity,” he said in Poland.

“We support dialogue and diplomacy for the early restoration of peace and stability. For this, India, along with its friendly countries, is ready to provide all possible support,” he said in a media statement with Tusk.

Modi held talks with Zelenskyy in June on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy’s Apulia.

In the meeting, Modi conveyed to the Ukrainian President that India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict and that the way to peace is through “dialogue and diplomacy”.

Modi also told Zelenskyy that India believes in a “human-centric” approach to find a solution to the conflict in Ukraine.

In the meeting, the Ukrainian president invited the prime minister to visit Kyiv.