Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his country stood "firmly for peace" in the war between Ukraine and Russia during a Friday meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

"We were not neutral from day one, we have taken a side, and we stand firmly for peace," Modi said.

Modi is paying the first visit to Ukraine by an Indian prime minister.

As he pushed for a way forward on ending the Ukraine war, Modi urged Zelensky to sit down for talks with Russia and offered to act as a "friend" to help bring peace.

"No problem can be resolved on a battlefield," Modi said in Poland on Wednesday before heading to Ukraine.