STORY: :: India's Narendra Modi arrives in Kyiv for talks with Ukraine's President Zelenskiy

:: It's an important visit for Kyiv, which rebuked Modi for visiting Moscow last month

This is the first trip by an Indian prime minister to Ukraine since Kyiv gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The visit comes at a volatile juncture in the war in Ukraine, with Ukrainian forces still in Russia's western Kursk region following their incursion on August 6 and Russian troops grinding out slow but steady advances in Ukraine's east.

The visit, which follows a trip by Modi to Moscow in July, is important for Western-backed Kyiv, which has been trying to nurture diplomatic relations in the Global South in its efforts to secure a fair settlement to end the war.

In the run-up to the trip, Modi said he was looking forward to sharing "perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict."

Modi's visit to Moscow coincided with a heavy Russian missile strike on Ukraine that hit a children's hospital. The attack prompted Modi to use emotive language to deliver an implicit rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin at their summit.

But the trip elicited fierce criticism from Zelenskiy.