Modi meets Ukraine’s Zelensky weeks after summit with Putin, India ‘ready to…’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached war-torn Ukraine on Friday, weeks after he visited Russia for a bilateral summit. The visit holds significance for Western-backed Kyiv as it tries to drum up support in the Global South. 
Ahead of his visit to the war-torn country, Modi said he looked forward to sharing “perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict” with Volodymyr Zelensky.
“No solution can be found on the battlefield. The loss of lives of innocent people has become the biggest challenge for the whole of humanity in any crisis. We support dialogue and diplomacy for a speedy resolution to the conflicts — and for this, India will work with other friendly countries to provide all support,” he assured ahead of the visit to Kyiv.
According to a Bloomberg report, Modi has also agreed to relay messages between Putin and Zelensky — although he won’t be a formal mediator.
India has repeatedly stressed the need to establish peace through “dialogue and diplomacy” and believes a “human-centric” approach is necessary.
The visit comes weeks after PM Modi made a trip to Moscow for a bilateral summit — meeting with Vladimir Putin even as Russian missiles struck across Ukraine and killing scores of people. 
Zelensky had described the interaction as a “huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts” and chided Modi for hugging Putin.
“India has substantive and independent ties with both Russia and Ukraine and these partnerships, they stand on their own. This is not a zero-sum game. The PM had also travelled to Russia. Many ideas were discussed. The PM has also met President Zelenskyy on a couple of occasions in the last one year or so and they will now be meeting again in Ukraine,” the MEA had said earlier this week.
(With inputs from agencies)