[KARAH RUCKER]

INDIAN PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI VISITED KYIV FRIDAY — MARKING THE HIGHEST-PROFILE TRIP BY A LEADER FROM A NEUTRAL NATION DURING THE UKRAINE-RUSSIA CONFLICT. HIS VISIT IS PART OF UKRAINE’S ONGOING EFFORT TO ENGAGE NON-WESTERN COUNTRIES IN POTENTIAL PEACE TALKS.

MODI’S ARRIVAL FOLLOWS A PREVIOUS VISIT TO MOSCOW — WHERE HE REINFORCED INDIA’S CLOSE ECONOMIC AND DEFENSE TIES WITH RUSSIA — EVEN AS UKRAINE REMAINS CRITICAL OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN.

UKRAINE HOPES THAT ENGAGING COUNTRIES LIKE INDIA, WHICH RELY ON RUSSIAN ENERGY BUT ALSO CONDEMN CIVILIAN CASUALTIES, CAN CREATE DIPLOMATIC LEVERAGE AS THE WAR CONTINUES.

IN KYIV, MODI MET WITH UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY TO DISCUSS THE WAR’S GLOBAL IMPACT AND POSSIBLE PATHS TO PEACE. MODI’S VISIT IS ALSO PART OF UKRAINE’S PUSH TO GAIN SUPPORT FROM THE GLOBAL SOUTH, FOCUSING ON ISSUES LIKE GRAIN EXPORTS AND GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY, WHICH ALSO AFFECT INDIA.

ZELENSKYY HAD PREVIOUSLY EXPRESSED DISAPPOINTMENT OVER MODI’S MOSCOW VISIT, BUT IN KYIV, MODI OFFERED CONDOLENCES FOR UKRAINIAN CHILDREN KILLED IN A RECENT ATTACK — STRESSING INDIA’S CONCERN ABOUT CIVILIAN CASUALTIES.

INDIA CONDEMNS CIVILIAN DEATHS IN THE WAR BUT HAS MAINTAINED STRONG ECONOMIC TIES WITH RUSSIA — BECOMING ONE OF THE LARGEST BUYERS OF RUSSIAN OIL. MODI’S VISIT WAS AN EFFORT TO POSITION INDIA AS A LEADING VOICE FOR THE GLOBAL SOUTH — PROMOTING PEACE AND ADDRESSING THE GLOBAL RISKS CAUSED BY THE WAR.

UKRAINE SEES MODI’S VISIT AS A CHANCE TO STRENGTHEN RELATIONS WITH INDIA, A COUNTRY WITH “CERTAIN INFLUENCE” OVER MOSCOW, ACCORDING TO AN ADVISER TO ZELENSKYY.

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