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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky called on Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to use his influence on Vladimir Putin to push for an end to the war.
Mr Modi invited Mr Zelensky to come to India during his visit to Ukraine in August when he said New Delhi was on the side of peace from the very first day of the war.
Kyiv has repeatedly shown frustration with India for seeking to do a balancing act between the West and its ally Russia. India has called for peace but sought to increase trade links with Russia, a key arms supplier and energy exporter.
Mr Zelensky said Mr Modi has “huge influence” on Mr Putin and can take a “real step”.
“As for the position of PM Modi I think that any assertions today should not end with the word only. Modi is the PM of a really huge country from the perspective of population, economy, influence and impact. Such a country cannot just say we are interested in the end of the war, we are all interested in that,” he said in an interview with the Times of India newspaper.
“Especially for such a huge country like India, PM Modi can influence the end of the war. This is the huge value of him in any conflict.”
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Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin hug at the Brics summit in Kazan, Russia, on 22 October 2024 (AP)
Mr Zelensky said blocking the Russian economy, its cheap energy resources and its defence industrial complex would reduce its ability to wage war against Ukraine.
He called on G20 – the grouping of the world’s largest economies – to choke Russia economically and put “Putin in his place”. “You don’t need to say we would like peace, you need to act. Because the daily war is killing people,” he said.
Kyiv has alleged that 20,000 children have been taken to Russia or Russian occupied territories without the consent of the families or guardians since the war began, calling it a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide.
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Narendra Modi visited Ukraine to meet Volodymyr Zelensky in August 2024 (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)
Suggesting more concrete steps, he called on Mr Modi to join a coalition of countries helping bring back the children and said he could start with the repatriation of 1,000 such children.
“You can force Putin to bring back Ukrainian children,” Mr Zelensky said.
“PM Modi can use his influence and tell Putin just give me 1,000 Ukrainian children who will be brought back to Ukraine. Let PM Modi bring back at least 1,000 Ukrainian children.”
Mr Modi has met Mr Putin twice this year. He went to Russia in July, and was promptly criticised by Mr Zelensky for hugging the Russian leader.
The Ukrainian leader called Mr Modi’s meeting with Mr Putin “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 on such a day”.
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Vladimir Putin greets Narendra Modi during a welcoming ceremony for participants of the Brics summit in Kazan, Russia, 22 October 2024 (Getty)
Mr Modi did, however, offer some veiled criticism of what was happening in Ukraine at the end of his meeting with Mr Putin. “Be it war, conflicts, terror attacks – everyone who believes in humanity is pained when there is loss of lives,” he said. “But when innocent children are murdered, when we see innocent children dying, it is heart-wrenching. That pain is immense.”
Mr Modi repeated his embrace of Mr Putin at this month’s Brics summit and said that “problems should be resolved only through peaceful means”.
“We fully support the early restoration of peace and stability. All our efforts give priority to humanity. India is ready to provide all possible support in the times to come,” Mr Modi said, adding that he would discuss the issues with Putin.
Mr Zelensky told the newspaper the Brics summit in Russia failed as not everyone was there. Brics, he said, was divided by “Putin himself by his policy of war”.
Three dozen countries participated in the summit and 24 were represented by their leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian, and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa. The only notable absentee was Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, who had to cancel his trip due to a medical emergency.
Mr Zelensky also said neutrality in the war meant support for Russia as it only helped Moscow.
“I consider this a hidden support for Russia and the ones who were present there at the summit and speaking about their neutrality and saying they would like to help solve the conflict in my opinion they look more pro-Russia,” he said.
New Delhi has been accused by the West of indirectly funding Moscow’s war by buying vast quantities of Russian crude oil. The oil purchases have increased almost 20-fold since 2021.
Russia has also long been the biggest arms supplier to India, the world’s largest arms buyer in the world, and Moscow has remained a time-tested ally.
Russia supplied 65 per cent of India’s weapons purchases of more than $60bn over the last two decades, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, but the supply has reportedly declined in recent months due to the war.