Ukraine conflict cannot be a proxy war between the West and Russia

India's foreign minister S Jaishankar said at the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi that the best way forward in the Russia-Ukraine conflict is to “focus on stopping the fighting, getting them talking and finding ways of moving forward”. Inherent in Jaishankar's statement is the question: What is the West doing to stop the war? It is time the United States and Europe and Nato are made to answer. This is no longer about western issues like sanctions and gas supply and about pressuring India to condemn the Russian invasion. The very existence of Ukraine as a sovereign nation is at stake. If the West continues to find ways to provoke Vladimir Putin and the latter continues to attack Ukraine until he gets somewhere with his war aims, there will be nothing left for the Ukrainian people to call their home. Millions have already fled their country. If the conflict continues, they may never be able to return. So, who in the West will explain to the Ukrainian people why they are being forced to become refugees? The principle of the rule of order and rule of law works both ways. Before the war began, the West went to all lengths to provoke Russia. Not once was dialogue given a chance. After the war began, sanctions were imposed on Russia.Apart from the military aspect of the sanctions, nobody was serious about the rest of the sanctions, especially about the oil and gas supply from Russia.

The motive was ulterior - the Americans knew Europe was dependent on Russian supplies and they had to continue. With the European needs thus taken care of, the western emphasis shifted to arming Ukraine but not encouraging both sides to talk. No offensive weapons were supplied as that could have provoked Russia to threaten to explore non-conventional methods or even turn its attention to the West. To date, Ukraine has received military supplies worth $3 billion. President Joe Biden wants to see a “weakened” Russia. At what cost and when? What if Ukraine does not exist in its current form by then? There is no question of armed intervention by the West, in the form of a Nato strike, as that has the potential to spark a world war. But there is the question of the West asking Russia for a ceasefire as a prelude to talks. The West is not interesting in talking to Putin at all. Recall that they tried the dialogue route successfully in Serbia in the 1990s. Getting Putin to the talking table is the only option. And that means Ukraine getting ready to talk on all issues, whether it is about Luhansk and Donetsk regions or Russia's fears over Nato. Putin is so far adamant about war. What about the West? Would it prefer to depend only on its sanctions and a regular supply of arms to Ukraine to try to undercut the Russian military someday?