It will be important for Ukraine to see India attend Peace Summit: Ukrainian PM Volodymyr Zelenskyy to PM Modi

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held a telephone conversation during which the Ukrainian President thanked India for its support for his country's sovereignty and said that it will be important for Kyiv to see New Delhi attend the inaugural Peace Summit in Switzerland.

Zelenskyy hailed India's continued humanitarian assistance for the people of Ukraine as the two leaders discussed ways to further strengthen their bilateral partnership in various spheres.

"I spoke with Prime Minister @NarendraModi to express gratitude for India's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, humanitarian aid, and active participation in Peace Formula meetings," said in a post on X.

He said it would be important for Ukraine to see India attend the inaugural Peace Summit, which is currently being prepared in Switzerland.

"We discussed the development of our bilateral relations, which should include a meeting of our teams and a session of the intergovernmental commission on cooperation in New Delhi in the nearest future," he added.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine is interested in strengthening trade and economic ties with India, particularly in agricultural exports, aviation cooperation, and pharmaceutical and industrial product trade.

"Ukraine also wishes to welcome Indian students back to Ukrainian educational institutions," he added.

India has been maintaining that the Russia-Ukraine conflict must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.

Modi also spoke to Putin on Wednesday and congratulated him on his re-election.

Putin recorded a landslide victory in Russia's election, cementing his already tight grip on power. The result on Monday showed that the three other candidates who ran -- but had not openly challenged Putin -- won 4.31, 3.85 and 3.20 per cent of the vote.