With the hoopla over Vladimir Putin’s visit now over, let’s turn to what some are calling a “street-level cat fight” that played out on the edit pages of the Times of India days before his arrival.
The first was an article jointly authored by three European ambassadors faulting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. French Ambassador Thierry Mathou, Germany’s Phillip Ackermann and the UK High Commissioner Lindy Cameron, described the Ukraine war “As a systematic choice by Russia to wage its war of aggression with absolute ruthlessness. And it must end.”
It underscored how deeply the Ukraine war has scarred and traumatised Europe. But it also echoed what External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said not long back, that Europe saw its problems as the world’s problem.
It deliberately overlooked Europe’s role of omission and commission in the run-up to the war, leaving it to Russia’s Ambassador Denis Alipov, to deliver a riposte in the same paper, in which he castigated Europe.
These included violating the Minsk Accords that saw attacks by Kyiv on the Russian-origin population in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region, and former UK prime minister Boris Johnson encouraging President Zelenskyy not to sign the Istanbul Agreement in 2022 that would have brought peace.
So when European diplomats say they are “confused” why Putin launched his special military operation, it suggests an element of hypocrisy in the European stance on Ukraine.
Many in India took objection to the article by the Europeans, not only because of its timing ahead of the Putin visit, but also its anti-Russia tone. Add to that the implicit nudge to Delhi that it must read the riot act to Putin. “India’s voice on the matter is also loud and clear, and as PM Modi put it: ‘A solution cannot be found on the battlefield’.”
The European advice to India sits in odd contrast with their own situation vis a vis Ukraine. Today, the US, Russia and possibly China discuss peace in Ukraine, Europe is on the sidelines. Even Kyiv does not appear to have a say on what is happening on its own soil.
Everybody wants the war to end but Ukraine is not in the loop of peace negotiations while Europe has no role at all. It may explain a growing sentiment in Europe that the war can only end if Ukraine agrees to surrender territory to Russia.
This is hard to accept for any country invaded and occupied by a foreign power. But Ukraine will at some point, have to deal with life’s ugly realities, is the view. Implicit in this is the recognition that without US backing, Europe lacks the wherewithal to continue militarily supporting Ukraine.
It is accepted that for Russia, the war has probably not gone the way it expected. It has suffered enormous casualties but Ukrainian casualties have been horrendous and combined with the loss of territory in the east, may leave a permanent scar with potential for trouble in the future.
Thirty eight years in journalism, widely travelled, history buff with a preference for Old Monk Rum. Current interest/focus spans China, Technology and Trade. Recent reads: Steven Colls Directorate S and Alexander Frater's Chasing the Monsoon. Netflix/Prime video junkie. Loves animal videos on Facebook. Reluctant tweeter.
