NEW DELHI (AP) — India's foreign minister held talks Friday with his Ukrainian counterpart, who was visiting to strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation with New Delhi, which considers Russia a historic ally from the Cold War-era.
Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in a post on the social media platform X that he and Dmytro Kuleba discussed “the ongoing conflict and its wider ramifications," and said the two would work together to boost relations between their countries.
“India and Ukraine have been traditional friends, but I think there is much more that we can do and should do, not only in the interests of our nations, but also in the interest of global development and security architecture,” Kuleba said Friday. “We will be looking forward to restoring what had existed before the large scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine began.”
Kuleba told Indian media Thursday that he wanted to discuss Ukraine's peace formula while in New Delhi, and encourage India to play a bigger role in helping end Russia's war in Ukraine.
“India can play a very important role in bringing together more nations from the Global South,” Kuleba said in an interview with New Delhi Television. He said India could be particularly helpful due to its close relationship with Russia. “It means India can influence the way Russia behaves,” he said, but also remarked that New Delhi's relationship with Moscow is based on the past, while the one with Ukraine “has more of a future.”
Kuleba's visit comes a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladmir Putin, whom India has so far avoided criticizing over the war in Ukraine. Instead, New Delhi has stressed the need for diplomacy and dialogue on ending the war and has expressed its willingness to contribute to peace efforts.
“Your visit gives us an opportunity, obviously, to understand the situation in your own region, and I look forward to hearing your perspectives on that,” Jaishankar said Friday before the two foreign ministers began their talks.
On March 20, Modi said he had expressed to Zelenskyy India's support for an early end to the conflict, while the Ukrainian president said he encouraged India to participate in the Peace Summit that Switzerland has offered to organize. Modi also spoke to Putin on the same day to congratulate him on his reelection as president, and agreed to further boost ties between the two countries.
Under Modi, India has promoted itself as a rising global player that can mediate between the West and Russia on the war in Ukraine.
At the United Nations, New Delhi has refrained from voting against Moscow, and has ramped up its purchases of Russian oil at discounted prices following the February 2022 invasion. Russia is also India's biggest arms supplier.
New Delhi has been trying to reduce its dependance on Moscow for arms and technology because of disruptions in supplies due to the war, and has stepped up its engagements with Western powers like the United States and the European Union. India is also part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, along with the United States, Australia and Japan.
Ukraine and India, a historical ally of Russia, hold talks to strengthen ties
Ukraine and India, a historical ally of Russia, hold talks to strengthen ties
FILE - Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, attends a joint news conference with Moldova's Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March. 13, 2024. Kuleba arrived in New Delhi on Thursday, March 28, 2024, for a two-day visit to boost bilateral ties and cooperation with India, which considers Russia a time-tested ally from the Cold War-era.(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's troops have been forced to make a tactical retreat from three villages in the embattled east, the country's army chief said Sunday, warning of a worsening battlefield situation as Ukrainian forces wait for much-needed arms from a huge U.S. aid package to reach combat zones.
Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Russian forces continue to attack “along the entire front line” of more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), with pitched battles raging west of Avdiivka, the eastern city they took in February after a grueling, monthslong fight.
“The most difficult situation is in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove directions, where fierce battles continue," Syrskyi's said in an update posted to the Telegram messaging app, referencing two Ukrainian-held cities in the war-torn Donetsk region, once a hub of industry.
“The enemy has engaged up to four brigades in these directions, is trying to develop an offensive west of Avdiivka and Marinka, making its way to Pokrovsk and Kurakhove,” Syrskyi added. "Units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, preserving the lives and health of our defenders, moved to new frontiers west of Berdychi, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka."
Two of these front-line villages lie less than 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of Pokrovsk, while the third is located just over 30 kilometers (19 miles) by road from Kurakhove.
A Washington-based think tank predicted late Saturday that Russian forces “will likely make significant tactical gains in thec coming weeks," as acute ammunition shortages continue to hobble Ukraine's defense efforts.
In its latest operational assessment, the Institute for the Study of War said that Moscow’s forces have opportunities to push forward around Avdiivka, and also threaten nearby Chasiv Yar. Its capture would give Russia control of a hilltop from which it can attack other key cities forming the backbone of Ukraine’s eastern defenses.
Despite this, the think tank assessed that neither of these efforts by Moscow are likely to cause Kyiv’s defensive lines to collapse “in the near term.”
The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday confirmed that Moscow’s troops had taken a village about 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Avdiivka, days after the war institute reported on its likely capture early on Thursday. That day’s assessment described Moscow’s gains as “relatively quick but still relatively marginal,” adding that Russian troops had advanced by no more than 5 kilometers (3 miles) over the previous week.
U.S. President Joe Biden promised on Wednesday that U.S. weapons shipments would begin making their way into Ukraine within hours, as he signed into law a $95 billion measure — $61 billion of which was allocated for Ukraine — that also included assistance for Israel, Taiwan and other global hot spots. The announcement marked an end to the long, painful battle with Republicans in Congress over urgently needed assistance for Ukraine.
Elsewhere, Russian drones struck the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Mykolaiv early Sunday, setting a hotel ablaze and damaging infrastructure, according to local officials.
Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv province, said that the drones “seriously damaged” a hotel in its namesake capital, sparking a fire that was later extinguished. Kim also reported that the strike damaged heat-generating infrastructure in the city. He added that there were no casualties.
Russian state agency RIA reported that the strike on Mykolaiv targeted a shipyard where naval drones are assembled, as well as a hotel housing “English-speaking mercenaries” who have fought for Kyiv. The RIA report cited Sergei Lebedev, described as a coordinator of local pro-Moscow guerrillas. His comments couldn't be independently verified.
Also on Sunday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said that 17 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight over four regions in the country’s southwest. Three drones were intercepted near an oil depot in Lyudinovo, an industrial town about 230 kilometers (143 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, Gov. Vladislav Shapsha said.
One of the Ukrainian drones damaged communications infrastructure in Russia's southern Belgorod province, which borders Ukraine, Gov. Vyachaslav Gladkov said later on Sunday. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Sunday that its forces had destroyed ammunition depots and military equipment housed at three airports across Ukraine, including assault drones stored at Kamyanka Airfield in the country's east. The ministry's online update said the attacks took place over the last 24 hours. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.
Russian shelling on Saturday and overnight wounded at least seven civilians across Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. A 36-year-old woman was pulled alive from the rubble after Russian shells on Sunday morning destroyed her home in the northeastern Kharkiv region, the local administration reported. Her 52-year-old neighbor was also rushed to a hospital with a stomach wound, the administration said.
Follow the AP’s coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A person walks next to partially destroyed buildings in Russian attacks in Borodyanka, north of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Borodyanka was occupied by Russian troops at the beginning of their full-scale invasion in 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A young man walks past to partially destroyed building in Russian attacks in Borodyanka, north of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Borodyanka was occupied by Russian troops at the beginning of their full-scale invasion in 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A medical worker clean up a room after a Russian attack on mental hospital №3 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Nurses clean up in the room after a Russian attack on mental hospital №3 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
