Kiev, Oct 29: PM Modi can influence the end of the Ukraine war. This is the huge value of him in any conflict. This is the huge value of India,” said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an exclusive interview to the Times of India. When asked about the possibility of PM Modi holding negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, Zelenskyy gave his strongest signal yet, “Undoubtedly it can be in India and PM Modi can really do that… but I think we need to prepare ourselves … and only according to our format because the war is in our land… we have the platform which is the peace summit.”

Ukrainian forces have been under pressure in recent months with Russia making advances in the Donbas region. Add to this the uncertainty posed by the upcoming presidential elections in US where a Trump victory might see Kyiv lose vital American support. Washington is Kyiv’s biggest source of military aid and any cut in this support will be a huge setback for Ukraine. Kyiv already faces restrictions in using American supplied long-range weapons to hit Russian military targets deep inside Russia. With winter coming and Russia continuing to hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Kyiv is looking at another bleak few months.