Modi tells Zelenskiy he is ready to play personal role ‘as a friend’ to bring peace to Ukraine
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has told Volodymyr Zelenskiy that he is “personally” ready to play a role “as a friend” to bring peace to Ukraine.
In a meeting Modi called “friendly” and “historic”, the Indian PM said India is ready to make proactive contributions to bring about peace and told Zelenskiy that dialogue should be opened without wasting any time, with both side sitting together to find a way out of the conflict.
According to Reuters, he told Zelenskiy that he supported and respected territorial integrity and sovereignty but said the only way to resolve the conflict was through dialogue and diplomacy.
Key events
India’s Narendra Modi also told Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy that New Delhi had not been neutral or an indifferent bystander and was always on the side of peace, Reuters reported.
The Indian leader said that New Delhi is ready to make proactive contributions towards peace efforts.
Modi tells Zelenskiy he is ready to play personal role ‘as a friend’ to bring peace to Ukraine
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has told Volodymyr Zelenskiy that he is “personally” ready to play a role “as a friend” to bring peace to Ukraine.
In a meeting Modi called “friendly” and “historic”, the Indian PM said India is ready to make proactive contributions to bring about peace and told Zelenskiy that dialogue should be opened without wasting any time, with both side sitting together to find a way out of the conflict.
According to Reuters, he told Zelenskiy that he supported and respected territorial integrity and sovereignty but said the only way to resolve the conflict was through dialogue and diplomacy.
Ukrainian forces say they have recaptured territory in the eastern region of Kharkiv, where Russia launched a large offensive in the spring that brought initial gains but the operation soon stalled.
Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade said in a statement late Thursday that its forces advanced nearly two square kilometers (about three-quarters of a square mile) in that area, Associated Press reports.
It was unclear when the attack was launched, its scale, and the area of the offensive, and it’s hard to predict if it will have further impact on the battlefield.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser in the Ukrainian president’s office, has told Reuters that Narendra Modi’s visit to Kyiv is significant because New Delhi “really has a certain influence” over Moscow.
“It’s extremely important for us to effectively build relations with such countries, to explain to them what the correct end to the war is – and that it is also in their interests,” he said.
Modi’s meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskiy comes weeks after the Ukrainian leader criticised the Indian prime minister over his trip to Moscow. For Modi, the visit is a chance to clear the air after he was shown embracing Vladimir Putin in July as Moscow staged a massive missile strike on Ukraine that struck a children’s hospital. Today, Zelenskiy embraced Modi with a frown before talks began.
India has recently developed economic ties with Russia as western nations have imposed sanctions on Moscow. Indian refiners which rarely bought Russian oil in the past have emerged as Moscow’s top clients for sea-borne oil.
In Kyiv, India’s Modi said “conflict is particularly devastating for young children.”
“My heart goes out to the families of children who lost their lives, and I pray that they find the strength to endure their grief,” he said.
President @ZelenskyyUa and I paid homage at the Martyrologist Exposition in Kyiv.
Conflict is particularly devastating for young children. My heart goes out to the families of children who lost their lives, and I pray that they find the strength to endure their grief. pic.twitter.com/VQH1tun5ok
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 23, 2024
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that during Narendra Modi’s visit the two leaders “honored the memory of the children whose lives were taken by Russian aggression.”
Today in Kyiv, Prime Minister @NarendraModi and I honored the memory of the children whose lives were taken by Russian aggression.
Children in every country deserve to live in safety. We must make this possible. pic.twitter.com/gKdjqcL5iz
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 23, 2024
Putin ‘made a decision’ on response to Kursk incursion, ambassador says
The Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, has said that Vladimir Putin has formulated a response to the Ukrainian incursion in the Kursk region, Reuters reported.
“I tell you sincerely that the president has made a decision,” the Russian ambassador said.
“I am firmly convinced that everyone will be severely punished for what has happened in Kursk region,” he added.
And here are the latest images from Modi’s Kyiv visit.
Russia accused Ukraine today of trying to attack the Kursk nuclear power station in what it called an act of “nuclear terrorism”, Reuters reported.
TASS cited an unnamed source as saying a drone was shot down near a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel.
Rustem Umerov, the Ukrainian defence minister, has said he is grateful to Latvia for providing 1,400 drones for Kyiv.
+1 400 drones from Latvia for Ukraine.
In total, Latvia provided Ukraine with 3 000 combat drones of various types within the Drone Coalition.We are grateful to our Latvian friends for their staunch support.
Together, we are stronger 🇺🇦🤝🇱🇻 https://t.co/1W4b2vgt1U— Rustem Umerov (@rustem_umerov) August 23, 2024
Here’s footage of Narendra Modi’s arrival in Kyiv.
For the first time in history, the Prime Minister of India visited Ukraine personally. Before arriving to Kyiv by our train, @narendramodi called India a “friend&partner” of Ukraine, hoping for a “restoration of peace” and “strengthening of IND-UA friendship.”#IronDiplomacy🇺🇦🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/EFBzoFeCH9
— Ukrainian railways || Укрзалізниця (@Ukrzaliznytsia) August 23, 2024
Indian prime minister arrives in Kyiv
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has arrived in Kyiv for a closely-watched visit.
The trip marks the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Ukraine since its independence in 1991, and comes after Modi visited Russia in July.
“I look forward to the opportunity to … share perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict,” Modi said ahead of the trip, Reuters reported.
“As a friend and partner, we hope for an early return of peace and stability in the region,” he added.
Opening summary
Good morning,
Here are the latest developments:
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Russian forces mounted 53 attacks on the Pokrovsk front in Donetsk oblast on Thursday as Moscow pressed to take the town, which Kyiv’s military described as the main focus of the invaders’ efforts in Ukraine. Elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions near the settlement of Niu-York. Russia earlier said it had seized the settlement. Russia’s army also claimed it had captured the village of Mezhove, between already held Avdiivka and Pokrovsk. Ukraine did not confirm the Russian claims.
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A ferry loaded with fuel tanks sank in the Russian port of Kavkaz in southern Krasnodar region on Thursday after a Ukrainian attack, local authorities said. Kavkaz port is one of Russia’s largest on the Black Sea, exporting as well as sending fuel across to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea.
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Ukraine’s air force said it used a US-made GBU-39 bomb to strike a Russian platoon command post in the Kursk region of Russia which Ukraine has invaded. The model is a precision-guided small diameter bomb with wings that unfold so it can glide to its target using built-in navigation after being dropped from a plane. Allies including the US are supplying weapons to Ukrainian forces but have imposed restrictions on how and when they can be used inside Russia.
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The Biden administration will send about $125m in new military aid to Ukraine including air defence missiles; Himars ammunition; Javelin anti-tank missile systems and other anti-armour missiles; counter-drone and counter-electronic warfare systems and equipment; 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition; vehicles and other equipment. Officials said the weapons were being provided through presidential drawdown authority, which means they are taken from Pentagon stockpiles and can be delivered more quickly.
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A Russian strike killed a 56-year-old man and injured eight others in the Kharkiv region of north-east Ukraine, the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said on Thursday. The injured included a 15-year-old boy, while residential buildings were also damaged in the Russian strike on the village of Bohodukhiv, the prosecutor general’s office said.
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Russian drone attacks killed two civilians and wounded a third, while a guided bomb attack killed two people, said prosecutors and officials in Sumy, which borders Russia’s Kursk region that Ukrainian troops have partly occupied.
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Ukraine’s drone attack on Thursday at Marinovka airbase in Russia’s Volgograd region caused fires and ammunition explosions lasting hours, Dan Sabbagh and Luke Harding report. Ukraine’s SBU security service said it carried out the remote raid on the base, home to about 30 Su-34 and Su-35 fighter jets. The planes carry out regular bombing runs against Ukrainian positions on the frontline about 280 miles away, the SBU told the Kyiv Independent newspaper. It is unclear how many jets were damaged or destroyed.
Warren Murray with Guardian writers and agencies