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Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) hosted an Interaction with H.E. Mr. Denis Evgenyevich Alipov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to India on June 9, 2022 following a hybrid format. The participants who were physically present for the discussions included Amb D. P. Srivastava, Amb. Ashok Sajjanhar, Lt. Gen Ravi Sawhney Amb Anil Trigunayat, Prof Sujit Dutta, Vice Admiral Satish Soni, Air marshal Rajesh Kumar, Commodore Gopal Suri and Dr. Nanadan Unnikrishnan. General N. C. Vij, Amb Satish Chandra, Amb Asoke Mukerji, Amb G Parthasarthy, C D Sahay and Amb DB Venkatesh Varma have joint the discussion virtually. Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director VIF delivered the Opening remarks, followed by the remarks of H.E. Ambassador Mr. Denis E. Alipov. The agenda for the discussion broadly centered on Russian perspective on Ukrainian Conflict.

The Russian ambassador stated in his remarks that Russia's special military operations in Ukraine were not preplanned, as the US and western countries claim, but that NATO's expansion in Russia's neighbourhood, as well as Ukraine's desire to join the Western security alliance, prompted Moscow to take this action. Russia's actions in Ukraine were also motivated by the desire to maintain the country's territorial integrity and security and to fight the Nazis and Neo Nazis forces in Ukraine. The ambassador stated that Ukraine is being used for a proxy war by the US and the West. Moscow wanted to support the people of Donetsk and Luhansk, who wanted their own independent republics. On India-Russia ties, he emphasized that no external factor can have an impact on India and Russia's traditional and strategic cooperation.

The talk by the Ambassador Alipov generated good interest and there were many points of discussion.