Europe encouraging Ukraine to escalate conflict: Russian envoy

A day ahead of the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow's ambassador to India Denis Alipov accused Europe of encouraging Ukraine to escalate the ongoing conflict.

"Russia never sought a war with Ukraine, and by contrast, it was Europe and the Barack Obama-led US administration that precipitated the Ukrainian conflict in 2014," Alipov wrote in an editorial in The Times of India (TOI) today.

He cited how Europe and Obama supported a coup that overthrew the legitimate President, Viktor Yanukovych, in order to turn Ukraine into a bulwark against Russia.

He was responding to an article co-authored by German ambassador Philipp Ackermann, French ambassador Thierry Mathou and British high commissioner Lindy Cameron, which said Russia didn’t seem serious about peace in Ukraine.

The three diplomats, in the opinion piece that earlier appeared in the TOI, further argued that while the world had been pushing for peace, Moscow was stalling the ongoing peace efforts with indiscriminate attacks on a daily basis against Ukraine.

The Ministry of External Affairs is peeved by European envoys’ piece in an Indian daily, criticising Russia ahead of Putin's visit. The MEA deemed it "unacceptable diplomatic practice" and interference.

“We see this (the opinion piece) as very unusual. It is not an acceptable diplomatic practice to advise India’s foreign relations with a third country. We have taken note of it,” an official from the MEA said on Tuesday.

In the piece, the three envoys wrote: “Russia could end the war tomorrow by withdrawing its forces and ending its illegal invasion, or at least by agreeing to a ceasefire and truly engaging in negotiations.”

"Russia was never forced into this war and its devastating consequences. Russia is the only nation that wants this war, and it is up to it to halt this aggression," the European envoys wrote.

Giving Moscow’s version, Alipov called it “European treachery”. Yanukovych, who was ousted in 2014, had negotiated a settlement with violent street protesters — an agreement guaranteed by senior European representatives. “They betrayed that commitment before the ink on the document had even dried. Yanukovych was forced to flee for his life to avoid being lynched by neo-Nazi mobs. This was the first act of European treachery in the unfolding Ukrainian tragedy," Alipov wrote.

"Once the coup happened, the appointed new regime in Kyiv launched armed attacks against all those who opposed its illegal rule, focusing its assault on the eastern region of Donbas, where the predominantly Russian-speaking Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics resisted its reign of contempt and terror," the Moscow’s envoy said.

Alipov accused Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he reneged on the Minsk accords — endorsed in 2015 by UN Security Council Resolution-2202 — and escalated military operations in Donbas.

India has maintained strong ties with Russia through the almost four-year war in Ukraine. The European Union along with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries have supported Ukraine with arms and aid.

Putin’s visit to India comes at a time when Donald Trump administration in the US is attempting to find a breakthrough in the conflict with a potential peace deal.