Russian President Vladimir Putin received Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Kremlin, the presidential press service said
Lavrov mocks Zelensky, plans Putin’s India visit, as Washington faces a diplomatic setback
Friday, August 22, 2025
India’s growing diplomatic tango with both Russia and China is beginning to look like a migraine for Washington’s foreign policy shop. On August 18, Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the two leaders discussed strengthening bilateral ties and the Russian president briefed Modi on the outcomes of the recent Russia–U.S. summit in Alaska. Earlier, on August 7, Putin had hosted India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval at the Kremlin for high-level talks.
Moscow, smelling weakness in American strategy, is openly mocking Kyiv’s leadership while cementing ties with New Delhi. At a press conference on 21st August with Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar in Moscow, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed Ukrainian President Zelensky as a low-grade comic trying to derail peace talks with cheap stunts, while positioning Russia as the adult in the room.
The idea of holding a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky actually tries to derail the settlement process with cheap comedy tricks, Russia’s top diplomat opined.
Lavrov dangled the prospect of a Putin visit to India later this year, complete with a “substantial package” of deals—proof that Russia’s global pivot doesn’t exactly isolate it, contrary to Western daydreams. He also took a swipe at Kyiv’s shaky legitimacy, implying that any future peace deal might hinge on whether Ukraine can even field a credible signatory.
Security guarantees for Ukraine? Lavrov scoffed at Western designs that seek to lock Moscow out while dressing up NATO’s expansion as “collective security.” In his words, such schemes are nothing but futile busywork, doomed to rejection. Talk of foreign troops in Ukraine, he added, is a red line Russia won’t tolerate—nor, he insists, would any “sensible” European leader.
Europe’s chest-thumping about “defending values” came in for derision too. Lavrov suggested that if Ukraine embodies Europe’s “values,” then Brussels has inadvertently confessed what those values really are—empty sloganeering backed by endless war subsidies. Meanwhile, the so-called “coalition of the willing” is accused of deliberately sabotaging progress made in U.S.–Russia contacts, undermining even Donald Trump’s efforts to cobble together a long-term settlement.
On the energy front, Russia-India cooperation is humming along smoothly, with India happily soaking up discounted Russian oil and planning joint ventures from the Far East to the Arctic. In other words, while Washington wrings its hands about “strategic containment,” New Delhi and Moscow are busy cutting deals and drawing maps for a future where American leverage looks more like yesterday’s empire than tomorrow’s order.
