Indian prime minister to visit Ukraine – media

Narendra Modi is reportedly planning a trip to Kiev in late August

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to visit Ukraine sometime in August, media outlets in New Delhi have reported citing diplomatic sources.

Though he has met with Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines of G7 meetings in Italy and Japan, Modi has not visited Kiev since hostilities between Ukraine and Russia began in February 2022.

According to Indian media, the visit is expected around August 23. Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and national security advisor Ajit Doval have held telephone talks with their Ukrainian counterparts, Dmitry Kuleba and Andrey Yermak, earlier this month.

During his meeting with Zelensky in Italy last month, Modi repeated that “India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution,” according to a government readout. 

Earlier this month, Modi was in Moscow, meeting with President Vladimir Putin. The Indian prime minister later said that “very interesting ideas” and “completely new views” emerged from their talks and that speaking with the Russian president gave him hope.

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“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,” Zelensky posted on social media about the Modi-Putin meeting.

India responded by summoning the Ukrainian ambassador in New Delhi to the Foreign Ministry for an explanation.

The US was reportedly also “frustrated” by the “terrible” optics of Modi’s Moscow visit, which undermined the American efforts to present Russia as isolated on the world stage.

India has had a long-standing relationship with Russia, most notably in the field of defense cooperation. Last year, the volume of trade between the two countries surged to $65 billion, largely due to India’s increased purchases of Russian oil and coal. It is expected to reach $100 billion by 2030.

New Delhi is also one of the founding members of BRICS. Modi is expected to travel to Russia again in October, to attend the organization’s summit in Kazan.