Russia ‘quite effective’ in pushing Ukraine war narrative in India and other countries: Latvia State Secretary Andris Pelss

In an exclusive interaction with The Hindu, the visiting top diplomat of Latvia describes Russia as a “rational actor” that failed to anticipate the support that Ukraine got.

NEW DELHI:

Russia has been “quite effective” in conveying to India and other developing countries that it is not to be blamed for theUkraine crisis and the accompanying disruption of the global security and supply chains, said the State Secretary of Latvia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andris Pelss here on Wednesday, November 30, 2022..

In an exclusive interaction with The Hindu, the visiting top diplomat of Latvia described Russia as a “rational actor” that failed to anticipate the support that Ukraine would receive from rest the of Europe in case of an attack and stated that the Russian leadership was threatened by the fact that Ukraine had chosen “a different path” despite being similar to Russia.

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“When I speak to people of India and other countries that we call the Global South, I have to recognize that Russia has been quite effective in pushing its narrative about the war saying that it is not Russia who caused it and that it’s somebody else who is culpable of the global disruptions in food stuffs and energy and that somehow it is always the fault of the victim and not the fault of the aggressor,” said Mr. Pelss recognising the Russian “narrative” regarding the crisis in Ukraine, adding, “probably Russia has not been that effective in the battlefield but in pushing the narrative, they have been quite effective and  that we have to counter and tell the truth of the war in Ukraine.”

The war began on  February 24 when Russia launched what it defined as a “special military operation” against Ukraine. In the last couple of months, repeated Russian assaults on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine has left the population without stable electricity supply in the backdrop of a harsh winter that has set in.

India however, has refrained from condemning Russia’s actions and has proactively reached out to Moscow to stabilize energy supplies in the backdrop of the global energy crisis that was triggered as an economic fallout of the Ukraine war. According to the latest estimates, Moscow has emerged as the largest supplier of energy to India above the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.