Modi meets Zelensky on historic Ukraine visit

Kyiv, Ukraine: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukraine s leader Volodymyr Zelenksy on a historic visit to Kyiv on Friday, where he is pushing...

Kyiv, Ukraine: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenksy on a historic visit to Kyiv on Friday, where he is pushing for a solution to end more than two years of war with Russia.

Modi embraced Zelensky -- who looked visibly emotional -- at the Mariinsky palace in Kyiv, in the first ever visit by an Indian premier to Ukraine. The Indian leader is casting himself as a possible peacemaker between Moscow and Kyiv.

But his visit comes at a dramatic moment in the two-and-a-half year war, with a diplomatic settlement appearing more elusive than ever.

Kyiv's forces are mounting a major incursion into Russia's Kursk region while Moscow's army is advancing in eastern Ukraine, claiming to have seized a swathe of towns and villages in recent weeks.

"No problem can be resolved on a battlefield," Modi said in Poland on Wednesday before heading to Ukraine. India, he said, supports "dialogue and diplomacy for restoration of peace and stability as soon as possible."