JAIPUR: British high commissioner Alex Ellis on Monday said Russia’s Ukraine invasion was beginning of a long process to achieve something. Speaking during the session ‘Present Tense: Conflict and Democracy’ at the concluding day of Jaipur Literature Festival, Ellis said it was an invasion of autocracy over democracy by Russian president Vladimir Putin just like the acts of Czars and Stalin. Other panellists in the session included ambassador of European Union to India Ugo Astuto and Portuguese politician Bruno Macaes.
“The UK and other nations are short of direct fighting since Ukraine is not an active part of NATO. The UK has been training Ukraine army since 2014-15 and supplying anti-tank missiles to check Putin’s options,” said Ellis.
Reacting to the sanctions slapped on Russia, Ellis said those would impct the economies of European nations. “Ultimately what we are trying to do is to what Indian representative said in the United Nations that every country should respect territorial integrity, sovereignty and UN charter,” Ellis said.
Sharing the experience of his stay in Ukraine just days befor the attack, Macaes said, “I could see that Ukrainians are coming together with great bravery and courage to defend themselves against foreign tyrants. On my last days in Kyiv, I saw a group of students learning how to fire a gun for the first time. You are not just defending your life, but the country too.”
