The Times Of India’s exclusive interview with Zelensky went exactly as expected after he made unrealistic demands of India instead of appealed to it as a mediator like he should have done. He praised Modi and his country in an attempt to sweeten them up before calling for the imposition of maximum sanctions. The Ukrainian leader said that Russia’s economy, energy, and military-industrial complex must be “blocked”, which India won’t as proven by it doubling down on ties with Russia in spite of US pressure.
Zelensky also said that while he’s in favor of India holding the next so-called “peace summit”, he’ll only agree to participate if it’s held according to his country’s demands in an allusion to its “peace formula” that Russia has already ruled out as completely unacceptable. Sensing that his unrealistic demands will offend India’s leadership, he tried guilting them by claiming that neutrality actually favors Russia and then asked them to at least secure the release of what he described as “kidnapped” Ukrainian children.
While India might help Ukrainian parents reunite with their children who were separated from them by the conflict and have since been under Russia’s care, for which the “International Criminal Court” issued a purely politicized warrant for Putin’s arrest in early 2023, that wouldn’t be a unique contribution. Qatar brokered such deals in the past, and including another mediator into the mix might not be the most efficient thing to do, but Zelensky probably perceives of it as a way for India to pressure Russia.
To be clear, any possible assistance that India might provide in this context would be done in good faith, not with the intent of pressuring Russia like Ukraine expects to have happen. That’s the only thing which Zelensky asked for that India might do since sanctions and complying with Kiev’s “peace formula” demands in exchange for hosting talks on ending the conflict won’t happen. No amount of haranguing and guilting will get India to chance its stance since it prioritizes ties with Russia over those with Ukraine.
Zelensky’s arrogance isn’t surprising but it’s beyond counterproductive in this context. India has a chance to supplant China as the leader of the incipient non-Western peace process on Ukraine as explained here, but only in the event that Zelensky is sincerely interested in compromising. He still isn’t though despite how bad everything has become for Ukraine as further proven by one of CNN’s recent reports. That’s regrettable since it means that the conflict will continue with all the destruction this entails.
If he had a decent head on his shoulders and was being advised by truly patriotic forces, neither of which is the case, then he’d have used this opportunity to appeal to India as a mediator instead of arrogantly making unrealistic demands of it that risk offending that country’s leadership. No country is in a better position to play this role than India since it’s masterfully multi-aligning between the US-led West, the Sino-Russo Entente, and the Global South, thus enabling it to serve as a bridge between them.
China isn’t trusted by the West, nor is Turkiye, while Brazil is just piggybacking off of Beijing’s peace plan. The Gulf States have some experience mediating prisoner swaps and the return of some children, but they don’t appear interested in anything grander right now nor might they ever be. It therefore falls on India’s shoulders to bring Russia, Ukraine, and the West together, but only if requested to do so by all three and if the time is right, which presently isn’t the case as proven by Zelensky’s arrogant interview.
