'Needless pressure on India': Ex-foreign secretary after EU Council chief on Ukraine war
New Delhi has an important role to play in bringing Russia to end its war of aggression and helping create a path towards peace, says EU Council chief
- Sep 4, 2025,
- Updated Sep 4, 2025 9:32 PM IST
Former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal has rejected European Council president António Costa's suggestion that India can play a decisive role in ending the Ukraine war, describing it as "needless pressure on India." He said the conflict in Ukraine is the responsibility of the West, not India.
"US and Europe bear the principal responsibility for war and peace in Ukraine. Trump in his erratic ways is trying to find a way out of the conflict. Europe is bent on continuing it," Sibal said on Thursday. "Having failed to defeat Russia responsibility for this failure is being shifted to India’s shoulders. India has no power to influence Zelensky’s decisions. Or Putin’s. So why this red herring."
Costa, who assumed the European Council presidency last December, said he "warmly welcome[d] India's continued engagement with President Zelenskyy" and argued that New Delhi "has an important role to play in bringing Russia to end its war of aggression and helping create a path towards peace."
"This war carries global security consequences and undermines economic stability. So it is a risk to the entire world," Costa said, adding that Brussels and New Delhi are working toward a joint strategic agenda at their next summit in 2026 and aim to conclude negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement by the end of this year. "We also remain fully committed to concluding the Free Trade Agreement negotiations by the end of the year. To achieve this, progress is needed now."
Visiting Beijing this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was prepared to fight on until its objectives were achieved if Kyiv does not agree to a deal. He made the remarks after attending a military parade in China that was seen as a show of strength against US President Donald Trump and the Western-led order.
Trump, who has repeatedly sought to engage Putin directly, has described the Russian leader as showing a “sincere desire” to end the conflict but has so far failed to secure any breakthrough.
Last month, Trump hosted Putin in Alaska, in what was seen as an effort to bring him out of isolation and encourage talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Putin has not ruled out such a meeting, but said it would require "preparation to yield results" and suggested that Zelensky could travel to Moscow-an idea dismissed as "knowingly unacceptable" by Ukraine’s foreign minister.
Former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal has rejected European Council president António Costa's suggestion that India can play a decisive role in ending the Ukraine war, describing it as "needless pressure on India." He said the conflict in Ukraine is the responsibility of the West, not India.
"US and Europe bear the principal responsibility for war and peace in Ukraine. Trump in his erratic ways is trying to find a way out of the conflict. Europe is bent on continuing it," Sibal said on Thursday. "Having failed to defeat Russia responsibility for this failure is being shifted to India’s shoulders. India has no power to influence Zelensky’s decisions. Or Putin’s. So why this red herring."
Costa, who assumed the European Council presidency last December, said he "warmly welcome[d] India's continued engagement with President Zelenskyy" and argued that New Delhi "has an important role to play in bringing Russia to end its war of aggression and helping create a path towards peace."
"This war carries global security consequences and undermines economic stability. So it is a risk to the entire world," Costa said, adding that Brussels and New Delhi are working toward a joint strategic agenda at their next summit in 2026 and aim to conclude negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement by the end of this year. "We also remain fully committed to concluding the Free Trade Agreement negotiations by the end of the year. To achieve this, progress is needed now."
Visiting Beijing this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was prepared to fight on until its objectives were achieved if Kyiv does not agree to a deal. He made the remarks after attending a military parade in China that was seen as a show of strength against US President Donald Trump and the Western-led order.
Trump, who has repeatedly sought to engage Putin directly, has described the Russian leader as showing a “sincere desire” to end the conflict but has so far failed to secure any breakthrough.
Last month, Trump hosted Putin in Alaska, in what was seen as an effort to bring him out of isolation and encourage talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Putin has not ruled out such a meeting, but said it would require "preparation to yield results" and suggested that Zelensky could travel to Moscow-an idea dismissed as "knowingly unacceptable" by Ukraine’s foreign minister.