Terming the West’s accusation of mass civilian killings by Russian troopers in Bucha near Kiev “propaganda by vested interests who want to derail the peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia”, Roman Babushkin, Russian Deputy Chief of Mission to India, has demanded an independent investigation into it.
In an exclusive interview, he said the use of nuclear weapons in the ongoing conflict is “hopefully unlikely” as Russia sees its nuclear weapons as a deterrent. He also said that the pace of Russia’s special military operations in Ukraine is slower than one would have expected as the Russians are targeting only military installations and not civilian infrastructure.
He noted that when Russian troops left Bucha, the mayor of the city, did not raise his voice. It was only after Ukrainian troops entered the city that reports of civilian killings came out. He said that Russia wants to approach the international community to investigate these killings impartially.
Edited excerpts:
ON THE BATTLE OF NARRATIVES
Babushkin spoke at length about the “one-sidedness” of Western media outlets in depicting the Russian operation in Ukraine. He said Russian media outlets were not allowed to work in Europe and other countries, making an alternative perspective difficult to access. “The West has been dominating information warfare in the current scenario. Russia has been trying to balance it by providing other sources of information, but DDoS attacks on official websites have hindered an effective response,” he said. He added that the Russian Embassy in India has appreciated the freedom of speech India has allowed regarding presenting Russia’s perspective on its operation in Ukraine.
ON IMPACT OF WEST’S SANCTIONS
On being asked if Russia was getting isolated, as the West seems to have many more countries, as visible in the voting pattern, in the United Nations, he said that Russians are confident that they can’t be isolated in the present global scenario and Russia would continue to remain relevant as an attractive destination to do business for the rest of the world. “It is a Utopian idea to isolate a country like Russia, which is partnered with countries that are seeking a multipolar world, like China and India,” he said.
INDIA-RUSSIA RELATIONSHIP
On Russia’s relationship with India, Babushkin stressed the importance of India’s balanced and independent position on the war. “India has shown that it will not join the bandwagon on unilateral sanctions and not bow down to the West’s pressure on following a unipolar world order. It is playing an important and impartial role in the mediation and peace process that can resolve the conflict based on the international principle — security for everyone,” he said.
Highlighting the future prospects, Babushkin said, “When some [doors] are getting closed, it is natural to move towards doors that are open.”
Russia is open to closer ties with all its partners, including India, to trade beneficially with mutual respect and equality. Russia is especially interested in productive collaborations with Indian tech and pharma companies.
TIMEFRAME TO END WAR
When asked if the war has gone beyond the timeline that Russia had earlier expected, Babushkin said that everyone wants this war to end as early as possible. “In fact, we never wanted this conflict to happen. This conflict didn’t happen overnight this February. You have to go back in history to understand it…”
When asked if the Russian military operations are making much slower progress than expected and is there a specific timeframe to end these operations, the Russian envoy said, “Special military operations (as the Russia terms its operations in Ukraine) are not moving as fast as one expects as the Russian army is not targeting civilian infrastructure. It is only targeting the military infrastructure or the Ukrainian army. Only precise weapons are used for this purpose. Second (reason) is that the West is supporting Ukraine militarily, sending more and more troops there… which complicates the situation and the negotiation process.”
ON USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Commenting on the possibility of use of nuclear weapons by Russia, Babushkin said, “This is hopefully an unlikely scenario. Russia has got its nuclear doctrine, which says that nuclear weapons are deterrents and as a nuclear power, we realise it is our responsibility to maintain strategic stability. It is not our intention to come to this point. It is clear that there will be no winners in this situation.”
Arun Anand is a columnist and author of several books. His latest book is ‘Taliban: War and Religion in Afghanistan’. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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