India’s Narendra Modi has arrived in Kyiv, where he will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, marking the first time an Indian prime minister has visited the country since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Modi is expected to discuss economic ties and cooperation in defence, science and technology, while also broaching the contentious subject of a settlement to end the war with Russia.

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“No problem can be resolved on a battlefield,” Modi said ahead of his visit, adding that India supports “dialogue and diplomacy for restoration of peace and stability as soon as possible”.

It is unclear whether the Indian leader could be an effective dealmaker, seen by many in Ukraine as being too close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Alex Gatopoulos said India would have to “perform this tightrope act” between the West and Russia.

“It is a Russian client state. The vast majority of its military equipment is Russian-made, so India cannot afford to alienate Russia either,” he said.

India is the world’s largest buyer of Russian arms, and has sought to capitalise on cheaper Russian oil as the United States and European countries seek to limit the Russian energy sector’s access to the global marketplace via sanctions.

Modi’s meeting with Zelenskyy comes a month and a half after he was in Moscow for talks with Putin, a visit that coincided with Russian missile strikes on Ukraine that hit a children’s hospital, which the Indian leader implicitly criticised during the bilateral summit.

Modi and Putin agreed to increase bilateral trade to $100bn by 2030, increasing investments, eliminating nontariff trade barriers and using national currencies to circumvent sanctions.

The meeting elicited fierce criticism from Zelenskyy, who said it was a “huge disappointment and 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”.

Al Jazeera’s Gatopoulos said Modi’s visit to Moscow was intended to put himself forward as a mediator.

“Whether that’s going to be successful or not, we will tell in the coming days,” he said.

‘A certain influence’

The visit comes at a crucial juncture in the war, after Ukrainian forces mounted a lightning offensive on Russia’s Kursk region on August 6 while Russian troops continue to make advances in Ukraine’s east.

On Friday, the Ukrainian Air Force said 14 of 16 Russian attack drones had been destroyed overnight. Meanwhile, Russia accused Ukraine of trying to attack the Kursk nuclear power station in what it called an act of “nuclear terrorism”.

India has avoided explicit condemnation of Russia’s 2022 invasion and has abstained on United Nations resolutions that criticise Russia, instead urging both sides to resolve their differences through direct dialogue.

Still, India has good relations with both Russia and the West, Ukraine’s principal backer, and some analysts believe Modi could play a role in pushing the two sides towards talks.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Modi’s visit to Kyiv was significant because India “really has a certain influence” over Russia.

Peace summit

Ukraine has said it hopes to bring together a second international summit later this year to advance its vision of peace and involve representatives from Russia.

The first summit in Switzerland that excluded Russia in June attracted many delegations, including one from India, but not from China.

Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst, said he expected no breakthrough proposals to be made to end the war during the trip by Modi, who visited Poland on Thursday.

For there to be an attempt to negotiate, the military situation has to stabilise and the presidential election must be held in the United States, a close ally of Ukraine, he said.

He said the visit was important for India to demonstrate it was “not on Russia’s side” and that Kyiv wanted to normalise relations after Modi’s Moscow trip.