National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval will visit Moscow for two days starting September 10 to hold discussions focused on resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.  This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to Ukraine and Russia in the past few weeks.

Favouring dialogue to end the conflict, the Prime Minister during his talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on August 23 said both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an “active role” to restore peace in the region.  Prime Minister Modi also said he would even like to contribute personally for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 5 named India among the three countries he is constantly in touch over the conflict. He also said these countries are sincerely making efforts to resolve it.

Other world leaders, too, are of the view that India can play a key role in finding a resolution to the Ukraine conflict. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday held talks with Zelenskyy.

“China and India have a role to play in resolving the conflict. What must not happen is to think that the conflict can be resolved by abandoning Ukraine to its fate,” she said, according to reports in Italian media.

As regards Doval’s upcoming visit, shortly after his trip to Ukraine, Prime Minister Modi spoke to President Putin over the phone on August 27. A Russian Embassy statement said during the phone call, Prime Minister Modi informed President Putin about his recent visit to Kiev and stressed India’s commitment to bring about a settlement for Ukraine by political and diplomatic means.

According to sources, it was during this phone call that the leaders decided that NSA Doval would travel to Moscow for peace talks.

During his visit, Doval will also take part in the Brazil, India, Russia, China and South Africa (BRICS)-NSA meeting, sources said. On the sidelines of the BRICS-NSA meeting, Doval will also hold bilateral meetings with his Russian and Chinese counterparts with the possibility of following up on the discussions from the July summit in Moscow. The last BRICS-NSA meeting was held in South Africa’s Johannesburg in 2023, where Doval also represented India.

“Vladimir Putin shared his principled assessment of the destructive policies of the Kiev authorities and their Western patrons, and went on to highlight Russia’s approaches to resolving this conflict,” the Russian Embassy said about the phone call.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the two leaders exchanged views on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. “The PM shared insights from his recent visit to Ukraine. He underlined the importance of dialogue and diplomacy as well as sincere and practical engagement between all stakeholders to achieve an abiding and peaceful resolution of the conflict,” a PMO release said.

The Prime Minister reiterated India’s firm commitment to support an “early, abiding and peaceful resolution of the conflict” on his official social media handle.

During parleys with Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Modi said, “India was never neutral, we have always been on the side of peace.”

President Putin has named India among the three countries Russia is in touch with over the Ukraine conflict. “We respect our friends and partners, who, I believe, sincerely seek to resolve all issues surrounding this conflict, primarily China, Brazil and India. I constantly keep in touch with our colleagues on this issue,” Putin said.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has sharply divided the world and most global powers have taken sides. New Delhi, however, has constantly called for peace, with Prime Minister Modi stressing that “this is not an era of war”.

When Prime Minister Modi travelled to Russia in July and hugged President Putin, President Zelenskyy had referred to a Russian missile strike that killed 37 people, three of them children.

He had said it is “a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day”.

On his recent visit to Ukraine, Prime Minister Modi embraced President Zelensky and the Ukraine leader said he and Prime Minister Modi had “honoured the memory of children whose lives were taken by Russian aggression”. “Children of every country deserve to be safe. We must make it possible,” he said.

Prime Minister Modi’s nearly nine-hour visit to Ukraine, the first by an Indian Prime Minister since its independence in 1991, came six weeks after he held summit talks with President Putin that triggered anguish in some Western countries.