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"only through dialogue and diplomacy can we find a way to solve the problem. we should work in this direction without hesitation," indian prime minister narendra modi told reporters in the ukrainian capital of kiev on august 23. zelensky, who was sitting next to him, touched his nose, clenched his hands, and had a blank expression on his face.

this is the first time that ukraine has welcomed an indian prime minister to visit since its independence. both sides therefore declared this a historic meeting. but compared to the historicity, what is more important is the present: in july, modi was warmly received by russian president putin in moscow, and the bilateral trade volume between india and russia reached an all-time high in 2023 and is still growing.

photo//visual china

in ukraine, modi continued to avoid directly blaming russia for the ukrainian crisis. he said: "we are not neutral, we choose to firmly support peace." the ukrainian leader showed a flexible attitude. a month ago, zelensky had just condemned modi for "embracing the bloodiest criminal in the world"; on august 23, he hugged modi intimately outside the presidential palace. however, the reuters report emphasized that zelensky hugged modi "with a frown."

the two leaders visited a memorial to ukrainian children who died in the war. earlier, a children's hospital in kiev was attacked during modi's visit to moscow. during his meeting with zelensky, modi stressed that killing children in conflict is unacceptable.

modi is not the first leader to engage in shuttling peace diplomacy between moscow and kiev. in july, hungarian prime minister viktor orban made a whirlwind visit to ukraine and russia after hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the european union. western countries first applauded his first visit to kiev since february 2022, then declared that orban "does not represent europe" for calling for peace in russia.

in contrast, modi's shuttle activities have not affected india's relations with any party in general. some analysts even speculate that modi's trip may be part of "urgent diplomatic efforts" by us president biden and democratic presidential candidate harris before the november election. it can be confirmed that after leaving kiev, modi spoke to biden as soon as possible, and biden expressed appreciation for modi's message of peace in kiev.

kortunov, academic director of the russian international affairs council, pointed out that it is not easy to find an influential country that can dialogue with both sides in the context of the ongoing crisis. "the major countries in the global south that have not imposed sanctions on russia are more likely to become mediators that moscow is willing to trust and respond to." india's economic size and geopolitical influence also guarantee its flexibility.

it is precisely because of india's unique position that modi spoke frankly to the russian and ukrainian leaders. when he met with putin in moscow, modi mentioned the civilians, women and children who died in the war, and putin's face was gloomy. in kiev, modi bluntly said that zelensky should "sit together" with the russian side to find a way out of the crisis. zelensky did not respond to modi's call for peace.

it is undeniable that although all parties gave modi "face", most of the dialogue was not on the same channel. indian scholar aravind yelery pointed out that due to historical and practical needs, india and russia will maintain a long-term partnership. regarding the ukrainian crisis, india's basic position is that it does not want the crisis to be "highly militarized" so as not to affect india's energy, bulk trade and supply chain.

but for both russia and ukraine, the war is far from reaching its bottom. two weeks before modi's visit to kiev, the ukrainian army launched its first direct military action against kursk oblast in russia. as of august 25, the two sides were still fighting on russian territory, and ukraine claimed to have occupied two more settlements. on the other hand, the russian air force launched the largest-ever attack on infrastructure in ukraine on august 26, with 15 states under attack and power outages across ukraine.

author: cao ran

editor: xu fangqing