Anger has erupted in India over the major insult the country received from the three European nations, Germany, Britain, France, due to their attack against Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin just before his visit to the country for official talks with Prime Minister Naredra Modi. India considered it a major insult that shortly before the visit of the Russian president to New Delhi, the ambassadors of Germany, the United Kingdom and France published an article in one of India’s main newspapers that included harsh criticism against Moscow and the Russian leader. The article, which concerns the conflict in Ukraine, was written in a strongly critical and instructive tone.
Clear diplomatic insult the intervention
India reacted strongly to the intervention of the European diplomats in its internal matters before Putin’s visit, according to the German magazine Spiegel. The report states that before the arrival of the Russian leader, the ambassadors of Germany, France and the United Kingdom published an article in the Indian newspaper Times of India with strong criticism against Russia and Putin. “Indians expressed surprise, if not offense, at this intervention. They do not want the joy for the first visit to Russia since the beginning of the war to be spoiled,” Spiegel reports. The German magazine underscores that the visit of the Russian president to India was important for both sides politically and economically. Russia faces difficulties due to US sanctions against its major oil companies, while India hopes to find markets for its products in Russia, as its exports to the US were halved due to former president Donald Trump’s tariff policy, Spiegel notes. In the trade exchange between the two countries there is currently significant imbalance: Russia’s exports to India are estimated at 63 billion dollars, while India’s exports to Russia amount to 5 billion dollars.
What the three European ambassadors wrote in the Indian press that enraged India
The article by the ambassadors of Germany, France and the United Kingdom in India was published on December 1 in the Times of India under the title “The world wants the war in Ukraine to end, but Russia seems not ready for peace” and includes fierce criticisms against Russia, while Ukraine is presented as an innocent victim. “For more than three years the Ukrainians, with courage and determination, defend their country from Russia’s unjustified aggressive war against their home. Russia could end the war tomorrow by withdrawing its troops and stopping the illegal invasion or at least agreeing to a ceasefire and starting real negotiations. Instead, in 2025 the number of Russian attacks increased significantly, and since the beginning of the peace negotiations, President Putin carried out 22 major air attacks against Ukraine,” the article states. The ambassadors of the three countries stress that Russia “is conducting its aggressive war with absolute relentless brutality and this must end”. They assess that Russia “contributes to global instability”, “violates agreements it has signed” and “undermines trust in key democratic institutions, such as elections, independent media, civil society and the rule of law, for its own benefit”. In their view, Russia engages in “malicious global activity” that could lead to global destabilization. The ambassadors conclude that India is generally in solidarity with this negative assessment.
Response of the Russian ambassador - They mislead Indian public opinion
In response, in an article published on December 2 in the Times of India under the title “Europe’s four treacherous steps hinder the establishment of peace in Ukraine”, the Russian ambassador Denis Alipov stated that in the publication of the three European diplomats the conflict in Ukraine “is presented in an extremely distorted manner”. The article is assessed as “an attempt to mislead Indian public opinion about the causes and context of the crisis”. “In reality, Russia never wanted this war. On the contrary, Europe and the government of former US president Barack Obama provoked the Ukrainian crisis in 2014 by supporting the coup that overthrew the legitimate president Viktor Yanukovits, in order to turn Ukraine into a bastion against Russia,” the Russian ambassador wrote.
Betrayal in 4 steps
Alipov referred to the four “steps of Europe’s betrayal”:
1) The intensified violation of the 2014 ceasefire agreement
2) The “Minsk” fraud agreements by Europe
3) The ignition of the conflict through military support to Ukraine
4) The expansion of NATO and the selective application of international law
Alipov particularly stressed that Russia’s security concerns were deliberately ignored.
This was the article in the Times of India:
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