Denis Alipov writes: Russia was forced into a situation with few choices
Written by Denis Alipov |
Updated: March 10, 2022 7:31:38 am
Walter J Lindner, German Ambassador to India (File), at The Indian Express’s ‘Idea Exchange’.
It is with genuine astonishment that I read the conversation the German Ambassador to India, Walter Lindner had in the ‘Idea Exchange’ hosted by Shubhajit Roy, Deputy Chief of National Bureau of The Indian Express (March 7).
I have just arrived in New Delhi and am yet to present my credentials to the President of India. Protocol and ethics require me to refrain from making public appearances. However, I cannot but respond, since the German Ambassador to India took the liberty to publicly stigmatise Russia, its president and its policies.
Lindner seems to be a fine man, and like many from the generation of “flower children”, he sincerely believes in his ideals. However, a politician should be a realist, for the world we all live in is far from ideal. However, it looks as though realism is not the strongest trait of the German ambassador.
The point I am trying to make is that it doesn’t take a great degree of intelligence or courage to blame President Vladimir Putin for all the deadly sins that afflict the world. What is much harder is to accept that you too bear responsibility for the tragedy in Ukraine. All the more so, if you’re driven only by one side of the truth. And, if you had turned a blind eye towards the eight long years of torture, humiliation and mass killings in Donbas.
You had failed to listen to Russia’s consistent requests and even pleas since the mid-2000s — we don’t want confrontation, we want equal security for all.
You don’t seem to grasp that it’s not Ukraine that is fighting for freedom and independence. It’s Russia that’s doing so. Russia is not there to occupy or enslave, unlike Nazi Germany in the not-so-distant past.
Lindner says that Russia is “bending” history. Well, it’s high time you open your eyes, Mr Ambassador, for the US has been doing precisely that for the past 20 years, obsessed with the notion of unrivalled global dominance and feeding you and the world the very same fake narrative of which you accuse Russia.
It is true that Russia is a young and imperfect democracy. Our many shortcomings make us appear an autocracy to some. But, tell me, which country is perfect in this world? Our only desire is to freely evolve at our own pace without interference. Russia’s core foreign policy objective is to preserve the international laws agreed to by all instead of following a “rules-based order” advocated by a few. There cannot be one ultimate truth in international relations, it is always a compromise. The very compromise Russia was so highhandedly denied and in which Germany didn’t seem to have much say.
Perhaps, the German Ambassador has a different viewpoint but that doesn’t mean I should agree with him. And maybe he would agree with me that had Germany had a more independent foreign policy, it would have succeeded in respecting the interests of Russia and Europe at large, and wouldn’t have allowed a situation when we were left with no other choice but to use force to make Ukraine listen to us. It was not our choice alone, Germany too bears responsibility for the current situation.
That’s the realpolitik and it is much more grim than what the German Ambassador thinks. The people “across the pond” who call the shots are much more cynical than him. I’m happy that the German Ambassador can afford the luxury to theorise about ideals. Unfortunately, we have to deal with harsh reality.