Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday evening on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, and both agreed to restore trade ties to pre-war levels and partner on industrial projects.

The two leaders were meeting after 2024, when they had held two back-to-back meetings in a month with Modi travelling to Kyiv in August and then engaging with Zelensky in New York on the sidelines of the Summit of the Future in September.

About his meeting with Zelensky at the G7, the Prime Minister said on X: “In recent times, India and Ukraine have been engaging extensively. This has been reflected in different areas of our cooperation. Our talks today were about reviewing different aspects of our cooperation. We both agree that trade ties need to be restored to what they were in the pre-war time. Also reiterated that India will always be on the side of peace, placing the values of humanity over everything else.”

Bilateral trade between India and Ukraine showed a steady upward trend from $2.76 billion in 2019-20 to a peak of $3.39 billion in 2021-22, driven mainly by a significant increase in Indian imports from Ukraine. However, this growth was sharply interrupted in 2022-23 due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which caused severe logistical disruptions in cargo movement that led to a 77 per cent drop in trade. There have been signs of recovery since 2024-25, providing grounds for the two nations to push for restoring trade to pre-war levels.

Zelensky, who has in the past expressed concern about India’s purchase of discounted Russian oil that the West insists lines Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war chest, said the two countries have great potential for cooperation, referring to ongoing joint projects.

“Today, we discussed how to give them even more substance and expand cooperation across various sectors. Importantly, the Prime Minister is interested in developing mutually beneficial relations with Ukraine and sees that this partnership can make our people stronger. There are good industrial and other projects that we can implement together. We agreed that our teams would work through all the details,” Zelensky said on X.

‘Misuse’ of AI

Modi on Wednesday warned against the misuse of artificial intelligence, saying that without safeguards, it could expose children to the risks of misinformation, deepfakes and exploitation.

Speaking at an outreach session of the G7 Summit, Modi also called for strengthening global cooperation against deepfakes, misinformation, and cyber fraud.

Modi said that AI can educate children in their own languages, boost their creativity, and personalise learning. However, without safeguards, this technology can expose them to risks such as misinformation, deepfakes, and exploitation, he warned.

“We must transform the digital space into a learning playground for children, not a tool for manipulation,” he said, addressing the G7 session titled Ensuring a Safe, Rapid and Efficient Rollout of AI.

He said that the difference between these two scenarios is not about technology — it is about values, design, and governance.

Our thinking and policy regarding AI must be clear, he said, adding that AI must expand human potential, empower human choice, and protect human dignity.

Modi said that artificial intelligence is one of the most transformative technologies created by humans and added that the true test of AI lies not in how powerful our machines become, but in the extent to which the ordinary person is empowered.

He said that at AI ​​Impact Summit hosted by India this year, we emphasised the creation of human-centric AI, guided by this very perspective.

“At the summit, India presented its ‘MANAV’ vision; this vision inspires all of India’s endeavours in the field of AI,” he said, asserting that the human element must remain at its core. Modi said no country can be fully secure in cyberspace unless all nations are secure.

Neutral in war

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday described Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “neutral” during the war with Iran, saying they had not thwarted his efforts to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

“I just want to thank them because they made it a lot better,” Trump said following the adoption of a ceasefire agreement in the conflict.

“I want to thank China, President Xi. I was with him, and he stayed neutral, totally neutral, and I appreciate it,” Trump said. “And I want to thank Vladimir Putin, he was very neutral. They could have made it much more difficult for us.”

Additional reporting by agencies