MEA officials take note of Op-Ed by 3 envoys ahead of Putin's visit, says 'timing unusual': Report

An opinion peace by envoys of three Western countries in a leading English daily has raised eyebrows over its criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin just days before his two-day visit to India.

The ministry of external affairs has taken note of the joint opinion piece written by Philipp Ackermann, Thierry Mathou and Lindy Cameron in the Times of India on December 1, NDTV has reported.

Ackermann and Mathou are the German and French ambassadors while Cameron is the British high commissioner.

The MEA officials called the timing of the article "very unusual" and added that it's not an "acceptable diplomatic practice to give public advice on India's relations with a third country".

Former Foreign Secretary of India Kanwal Sibal also criticised the article, saying that the "vicious piece" breacher diplomatic norms and "is a diplomatic insult to India as it questions India’s close ties with a very friendly third country. "

"It is interference in our internal affairs as the purpose is to fuel anti- Russian sentiments in pro- European circles in India and question the morality of our ties with Russia," he said in a post on X.

In the opinion piece, the envoys lashed out at Putin over the war in Ukraine. "Every day sees new indiscriminate Russian attacks in this illegal war, targeting civilian infrastructure, destroying homes, hospitals, and schools. Attacks that continue to kill innocent civilians, including children," it said.

It describes the ongoing conflict as a "systematic choice by Russia to wage its war of aggression with absolute ruthlessness," saying that "it must end."

On December 3, the TOI also published a counter opinion piece by Denis Alipov, the Russian envoy to India, who heavily criticised the earlier article by the three envoys.

"On Dec 1, TOI published an article co-authored by the envoys of Germany, France, and Britain (‘World wants the Ukraine war to end, but Russia doesn’t seem serious about peace’) that presented a grossly distorted account of the conflict in Ukraine," he said.

He called the piece an "attempt to mislead the Indian public" about the origins and context of the crisis.

Alipov went on to argue that it is Europe, and not Russia, that provoked and repeatedly sabotaged chances for peace in Ukraine, beginning with the 2014 ouster of Viktor Yanukovych, which he describes as a Western-backed coup.

He claimed Europe acted in bad faith during the Minsk process, encouraged Kyiv to escalate the conflict, blocked a near-settlement in 2022, and is again obstructing peace efforts in 2025 to preserve its geopolitical ambitions.