Ukraine's Kuleba Dials Jaishankar With I-Day Greetings Amid Talk Of PM Modi’s Visit To Kyiv

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday called Indian counterpart S Jaishankar to wish him and the Indian people on their 78th Independence Day.

“I spoke with my Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar to congratulate India on its 77th anniversary of independence. We discussed the development of bilateral relations and political dialogue between Ukraine and India,” Kuleba said in a post on social media site X.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar thanked his Ukrainian counterpart for the Independence Day greetings in a separate post on X.

“Appreciate the call from FM @DmytroKuleba of Ukraine today. Thank him for the Independence Day greetings. Discussed our bilateral cooperation,” the external affairs minister said.

The exchange of greetings between both ministers came amid reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could visit Kyiv. The external affairs ministry said that it will discuss the matter during a press conference which will be held shortly. Randhir Jaiswal, the MEA spokesperson, said: “We will be having a press conference shortly and we will let you know more details about it”.

The war in Ukraine, which is now inching towards a third year, has entered a new phase with Ukrainian forces launching an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. Kyiv’s troops last week launched a major counter-offensive, sending more than 120,000 people fleeing.

It said its incursion into Russian territory was aimed at forcing Russia to negotiate on “fair” terms, as Moscow’s troops announced new gains in eastern Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s aide Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday that Ukraine wanted to negotiate “on our own terms”.

Ukraine has ruled out any talks with Russia if Russian troops do not leave its territory. President Vladimir Putin has said Russia would declare a ceasefire only if Kyiv withdraws from the four regions that Russia claims to have annexed but only partially controls — Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Ukraine meanwhile claims to have seized over 1,100 square kilometres of Russian territory, in the biggest attack by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II. India has urged Moscow and Kyiv on several occasions to declare a ceasefire and choose a path of diplomacy over war to restore peace in region.