{"id":438460,"date":"2025-09-20T11:50:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T11:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/438460\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T11:50:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T11:50:17","slug":"when-will-west-understand-the-futility-russia-defends-indias-role-in-zapad-drills-slams-eu-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/438460\/","title":{"rendered":"‘When will West understand the futility’: Russia defends India\u2019s role in Zapad drills; slams EU pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Russia Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Friday strongly defended India\u2019s participation in the Zapad 2025 military drills in Belarus, lashing out at Western criticism and cautioning the European Union against trying to dictate terms to sovereign states.\u201cI would like to say that I would prefer not to comment on the relationships between third countries, as I have already noted, but I’m ready to comment on the relations between Russia and India in particular. We are bound by strong time-tested bonds of friendship. Our relations, I emphasize, are self-sufficient. Their truly inexhaustible potential is progressively realized for the benefit of the peoples of both countries, regardless of fluctuations in the geopolitical environment,\u201d Zakharova said during her weekly briefing in Moscow.The Russian spokesperson underlined that the foundation of the \u201cspecially privileged strategic partnership\u201d between India and Russia rests on mutual respect, equality, and consideration of each other\u2019s interests, and that it is aimed at promoting a \u201cunifying, non-confrontational agenda\u201d globally.<\/p>\n

Russia rejects EU objections
<\/b><\/p>\n

Zakharova criticised the European Union and Nato allies for objecting to New Delhi\u2019s role in the drills. \u201cWe welcome New Delhi’s participation in the Russian-Belarusian exercises. Any so-called concerns expressed in this regard from outside are frankly unfounded and deliberately contrived. Essentially it is just another form of brazen pressure on our Indian friends in attempts to forbid them, imagine that, from cooperating, interacting and communicating with Russia,\u201d she said.Questioning Western attempts to interfere in India\u2019s foreign policy choices, she asked: \u201cWhen will the West finally understand the futility and frankly the ridiculousness of trying to dictate to states that pursue a sovereign foreign policy course? That is of course an open question, especially when it comes to such powers as India.\u201dZakharova also stressed that military and military-technical cooperation between New Delhi and Moscow \u201chas never been directed against third countries\u201d but has instead sought to \u201censure national security interests, strengthen international stability and peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

EU cautions India on drills and oil imports
<\/b><\/p>\n

The Russian defence comes in the wake of pointed remarks from European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who warned that India\u2019s participation in Zapad 2025 and its continued purchase of discounted Russian oil could complicate the bloc\u2019s negotiations for a free trade agreement with New Delhi.\u201cParticipating in military exercises, purchases of oil \u2013 all these are obstacles to our cooperation when it comes to deepening the ties,\u201d Kallas said earlier this week. She added, however, that Brussels did not expect India to \u201ccompletely decouple\u201d from Russia.The EU, which is seeking to finalise a free trade deal with India by the end of 2025, views Moscow\u2019s growing military exercises as provocative. The Zapad manoeuvres, held jointly with Belarus and involving Russian allies such as Iran, are the first since the start of Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.The drills, staged partly near Nato borders, have triggered heightened security measures in Eastern Europe, with Poland recently sealing its frontier with Belarus after drone incidents.<\/p>\n

India rejects EU criticism
<\/b><\/p>\n

India has pushed back against Brussels\u2019 concerns, pointing out that other Western nations have also been associated with the drills. Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday told reporters that \u201cseveral other countries including Nato countries such as the United States, Turkey and Hungary are also or have also participated in this exercise as observers.\u201d\"ScreenshotHe added that New Delhi\u2019s participation in Zapad 2025 was consistent with its established military engagements. The ministry of defence had earlier outlined that the Indian contingent, comprising 65 personnel from the Army, Air Force and Navy, joined the multilateral exercise at Nizhniy, Russia, from September 12-16.According to the ministry, the Indian team included troops from the Kumaon Regiment and other arms, and the drills focused on interoperability, joint tactics, counter-terrorism operations, and company-level conventional warfare missions.\u201cThe multilateral Exercise ZAPAD 2025 is aimed at enhancing military cooperation, improving interoperability, and providing a platform for participating armies to exchange tactics, techniques and procedures in the domains of conventional warfare and counter-terrorism operations,\u201d the ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Broader EU sanctions push
<\/b><\/p>\n

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday proposed fresh sanctions targeting Moscow\u2019s liquefied natural gas exports, shadow oil fleet, and major energy companies.\u201cIt is time to turn off the tap on LNG,\u201d she said in a video statement, urging the bloc\u2019s 27 members to endorse the new package swiftly. The EU has already imposed 18 rounds of sanctions since 2022, hitting over 2,500 entities and individuals, including President Vladimir Putin<\/a>, Russian lawmakers, oligarchs, and state-owned firms.Von der Leyen insisted the measures were working, claiming Russia\u2019s \u201coverheated war economy is coming to its limit.\u201d She also said Brussels aimed to completely phase out Russian LNG imports by January 2027.Foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas added that beyond energy, the sanctions package should also target those complicit in \u201cabducting Ukrainian children\u201d to so-called re-education camps, calling the deportations \u201cbeyond description.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zapad 2025: Defensive drills or threat?
<\/b><\/p>\n

Russia has consistently maintained that Zapad exercises are defensive in nature. President Vladimir Putin has said the aim is to \u201crepel potential aggression against the Union State,\u201d the political-military structure linking Russia and Belarus.Zakharova reiterated this line, saying the drills were meant to safeguard stability and counter aggression. She argued that the presence of Nato observers should help \u201cdebunk Western myths about the drills\u2019 aggressive nature.\u201dHowever, in Europe, the perception remains wary. With Iran\u2019s involvement and Russia\u2019s heightened military posturing, NATO allies view the manoeuvres as a test of Moscow\u2019s readiness and intent amid ongoing conflict in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s balancing act!
<\/b><\/p>\n

For India, participation in Zapad 2025 underscores its policy of strategic autonomy, maintaining ties with Russia while deepening engagement with the United States and Europe.New Delhi has consistently defended its purchases of Russian oil, citing affordability and energy security. Officials have also maintained that military cooperation with Moscow is longstanding and not aimed at any third country.At the same time, India continues to expand defence and trade ties with Western partners, including joint drills with the US, France, and Japan, and progress in free trade negotiations with the EU and UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Friday strongly defended India\u2019s participation in the Zapad 2025 military drills…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,1699,148474,2821,332,333,102326,142668],"class_list":{"0":"post-438460","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-european-union","12":"tag-moscows","13":"tag-nato","14":"tag-russia","15":"tag-vladimir-putin","16":"tag-von-der-leyen","17":"tag-zapad"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115236480750132639","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}