Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at India’s potential role in future Russia-Ukraine peace talks, infighting among top Israeli officials, and a final ruling on Venezuela’s disputed presidential election.
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Modi Plays Both Sides
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday against the backdrop of Ukraine’s ongoing incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. This was the first visit to Ukraine by any Indian prime minister since Kyiv declared its independence in 1991.
This is a “historic” and “symbolic” day, Zelensky said. He thanked India for its “support of our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and he urged Modi to join his vision of a “just peace” based on Zelensky’s 10-point peace proposal. “The matter of ending the war and a just peace are the priority for Ukraine,” he added, reiterating that Kyiv seeks an end to the war on its terms, not Russia’s.
Modi also focused on the potential of future negotiations, offering his role “as a friend” to push for peace. The Indian prime minister has held several conversations with Zelensky on the sidelines of G-7 summits, and on Friday, he visited Kyiv’s memorial to Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi, underscoring the two leaders’ focus on achieving peace.
“The road to resolution can only be found through dialogue and diplomacy, and we should move in that direction without wasting any time,” Modi said. “Both sides should sit together to find a way out of this crisis.”
Yet India’s close ties with Russia continue to undermine his calls for peace. India overtook China last month to become the world’s biggest importer of Russian oil, which Western nations have imposed a slew of sanctions on. Russia is also a major arms supplier to India, and the Kremlin remains a long-standing partner in helping to balance New Delhi’s strained relationship with Beijing. Because of this, Modi has refrained from explicitly condemning Russia’s invasion.
Last month, Modi chose Moscow for his first official state visit since beginning his new term. The two-day visit, during which he hugged Russian President Vladimir Putin, coincided with a deadly Russian attack on a children’s hospital in Kyiv. “It is 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,” Zelensky wrote on X in July.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has been pushing for a second international peace summit for later this year. The first, held in Switzerland in June, excluded Russia; India attended but was one of the few countries there to not sign a communiqué affirming Ukraine’s territorial integrity and calling for talks among all parties to find a lasting solution to the conflict.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said peace talks were out of the question due to Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russian territory on Aug. 6. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, reiterated on Wednesday that there will be no negotiations until Ukraine is completely defeated on the battlefield. Kyiv has previously suggested that the Kursk advance was meant to provide Ukraine with leverage in future talks.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
Israeli infighting. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Friday of putting the country at risk and creating “internal division” in Israel. His comments came after extracts of a letter were leaked that Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar sent to Gallant, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other government ministers.
In that letter, Bar warned that Ben-Gvir’s conduct, including his controversial visit last Tuesday to Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, would “lead to much bloodshed and will change the face of the State of Israel beyond recognition.” Bar also accused unnamed parliamentarians of providing money, legitimacy, and praise to extremist Israeli settlers suspected of attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.
The far-right minister responded on Friday by accusing Bar of trying to deflect from his own intelligence failures regarding Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. He also told Gallant that “instead of attacking me on Twitter, start attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
Top court cements Maduro’s reign. Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice upheld the reelection of President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday despite widely supported evidence that opposition candidate Edmundo González secured the most votes in the July 28 presidential election. The justices claimed that “tally reports issued by each of the vote machines” proved Maduro’s victory; however, the court, filled with Maduro’s allies, did not provide evidence of these votes.
Ten Latin American countries and the United States said on Friday that they “categorically reject” the court’s decision and called for an “impartial and independent audit.” “I have no doubt this election has been stolen,” Chilean President Gabriel Boric said.
The court’s ruling aimed to quiet deadly nationwide protests calling for Maduro to step down. Opposition leaders, rights organizations, and the United Nations have accused the country’s National Electoral Council, also aligned with Maduro’s regime, of refusing to release printouts verifying the digital count and allowing voter intimidation. Since the contested election, Maduro’s government has arrested key opposition figures, tightened rules on nongovernmental organizations, and killed dozens of protesters. Maduro is set to begin his third, six-year term in January.
Restrictions on Afghan women. Afghanistan’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, established by the country’s Taliban rulers, issued new laws on Wednesday prohibiting women’s voices and bare faces from being heard or seen in public. Specifically, women must wear face coverings at all times; are not allowed to look at men to whom they are not related (and vice versa); and cannot sing, recite, or read aloud, as a woman’s voice is considered intimate. The Taliban said the bans are to better follow their strict interpretation of Islamic law.
“Afghanistan was no paradise for women even before the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021,” FP columnist Lynne O’Donnell wrote last July. But misogyny and inequality have worsened since the group took control.
The day before, the Taliban announced that it had destroyed more than 21,300 musical instruments in the past year and prevented thousands of computer operators from selling “immoral and unethical” films at local markets. The group also said it had dismissed more than 280 members of its security forces for failing to grow a beard.
What in the World?
The U.S. Democratic National Convention (DNC) began on Monday in which city?
A. Atlanta, GeorgiaB. Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaC. Los Angeles, CaliforniaD. Chicago, Illinois
Odds and Ends
If you’re looking for some extra bling, Botswana has you covered. President Mokgweetsi Masisi unveiled a 2,492-carat diamond on Thursday so large that it obscured the Botswanan leader’s face upon closer inspection. The rough stone is the second-biggest diamond ever found and the largest unearthed in the past century. Weighing more than a pound, experts predict that it will sell for tens of millions of dollars. Still holding first place, though, is the Cullinan Diamond, which was discovered in South Africa in 1905 and cut into gems, some of which became part of the British Crown Jewels.
And the Answer Is…
D. Chicago, Illinois
Ahead of the event, Julian E. Zelizer wrote that Vice President Kamala Harris could learn how to frame the case for progressive patriotism from Barack Obama’s very first convention speech in 2004, when he was still a state senator.
Also, FP’s World Brief writer was stoked to see her hometown celebrated this week.
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The post Modi Urges Zelensky to Hold Peace Talks in First Visit to Kyiv appeared first on Foreign Policy.
