Kremlin officials are likely trying to use international peace mediation efforts to their advantage, while demonstrating an unwillingness to engage in constructive negotiations with Ukraine. This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
On September 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Brazilian Foreign Ministers Mauro Vieira and Indian Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of the meeting of the Cooperation Council of Russia and the Persian Gulf countries in Saudi Arabia. Although the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov discussed the war in Ukraine with both ministers, the details of the meeting were not released.
It is known that Brazil and the People's Republic of China have been promoting their peace plan "Political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis" since May, which consists of six points that largely correspond to the interests of Russia. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also confirmed India's support for peace in Ukraine, emphasizing the importance of international law, including respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Even so, Lavrov echoed standard Kremlin narratives that point to Russia's reluctance to engage in serious negotiations, calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's peace formula an "ultimatum" and arguing that Russia had never seriously considered the plan.
Ukrainian officials have already openly invited the Russian representative to participate in the second peace summit of Ukraine, which is planned for this year.
In addition, Russia actively uses several countries, such as India, Serbia and the People's Republic of China, to circumvent Western sanctions. This is confirmed by the publication of the Financial Times on September 4, which reports on the plan of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia to spend almost 1 billion dollars to secure critical electronic components, including the possibility of building facilities in India to access these components.
