Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (PMO via PTI Photo)Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday and reiterated that India will “always be on the side of peace, placing the values of humanity over everything else”. The two sides discussed trade and industrial projects, which is a significant upgrade in conversation since the war between Russia and Ukraine began almost four-and-half years ago.After meeting him on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Evian, PM Modi posted on X: “Met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Evian. In recent times, India and Ukraine have been engaging extensively. This has been reflected in different areas of our cooperation. Our talks today were about reviewing different aspects of our cooperation.”“We both agree that trade ties need to be restored to what they were in the pre-war time. Also reiterated that India will always be on the side of peace, placing the values of humanity over everything else,” he said, tagging Zelenskyy.Read | Global South alone can’t bear war burden, needs financial support: Modi to G7The Ukrainian President said, “I met with Prime Minister of India @narendramodi. Our countries have great potential for cooperation, and we are already implementing joint projects. Today, we discussed how to give them even more substance and expand cooperation across various sectors.”“Importantly, the Prime Minister is interested in developing mutually beneficial relations with Ukraine and sees that this partnership can make our people stronger. There are good industrial and other projects that we can implement together. We agreed that our teams would work through all the details,” Zelenskyy said.ExplainedEfforts to engage with Kyiv, MoscowIndia has stayed in touch with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy since the war began in February 2022. Modi has spoken to Zelenskyy by phone at least eight times, and the two leaders have met on at least four occasions.Read | On G7 Summit sidelines: Trade to sailor safety, Modi and Trump look to turn a new pageTheir last conversation was on August 30, when Modi reached Tianjin, China, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit and was to meet Putin on the sidelines.Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More