Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky greets Narendra Modi (R) in Kyiv on Friday as the Indian prime minister arrived in Kyiv to "share perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict," the first ever visit of an Indian prime minister to Ukraine. Photo courtesy Office of President of Ukraine
Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday to "share perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict," on the first ever visit of an Indian prime minister.
"Reached Kyiv earlier this morning," Modi said in a post on X accompanied by photos of him meeting Kyiv's Indian community which he said had laid on "a very warm welcome" on his arrival by train from Warsaw where he held talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Before departing New Delhi for the visit, which was at Zelensky's invitation after the pair met in June on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy, Modi said he was looking "forward to the opportunity to share perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict."
"As a friend and partner, we hope for an early return of peace and stability in the region," he wrote on social media.
Modi's visit came six weeks after he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a two-day summit which featured a widely criticized hug between the two leaders on July 8 hours after Russian missile strikes on Kyiv's Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and other cities killing at least 37 and injuring more than 170.
Zelensky decried the embrace as a massively disappointing and disastrous setback to the prospects for peace.
"It is 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," he wrote on his official account on X.
However, the Indian leader also went for the hug when he was greeted by Zelensky on Friday -- who reciprocated the personal friendship gesture, according to photos posted by Modi's team on his social media channels.
Under Modi, India has maintained a neutral position declining to condemn Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has continued to purchase Russian oil in defiance of Western sanctions on Russia -- at a discount -- leading to accusations it is helping bankroll Russian military aggression.
Unlike China, Modi did dispatch a representative to Ukraine's global peace summit in June hosted by Switzerland but India did not sign the joint communique issued at the close of the summit saying that "only those options acceptable to both the parties can lead to abiding peace."
Modi was also one of the few leaders of the democratic world to congratulate Putin on winning a fourth consecutive term in March in an election widely viewed as illegitimate, including by Russia's election watchdog, the Golos Movement, which said it did not meet the standards of the country's constitution.
