Brussels has no \u201cillusions\u201d about luring New Delhi away from Moscow, the vice president of the European Commission has said<\/p>\n
Decoupling India from Russia will be a challenge for the European Union (EU) even as it seeks to build an economic partnership with the South Asian country, High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday.
\nHer comments come after the bloc unveiled \u201ca new strategic agenda to raise bilateral relations with India to a higher level,\u201d which includes areas such as trade and technology, defense and security, as well as connectivity and climate change.
\nBrussels and New Delhi are also in the midst of negotiating a free trade agreement.
\n\u201dThe discussions we also had was whether it is possible to completely decouple India from Russia, considering their history as well,\u201d Kallas said in a briefing. \u201cI do not think we have illusions regarding this. The problems we have between ourselves in the relationship are very clear, and we are trying to address them in the negotiations as we speak.\u201d
\nShe added that if both parties did not reach a mutually agreeable solution to their positions on Russia and Ukraine, then no agreement would be reached.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa EU Commission VP: India’s Participation in #Zapad2025 Drills & Russian Energy Purchases Stand in Way of Closer TiesKaja Kallas says a TRADE deal isn’t just about trade… it’s about the rules-based order! pic.twitter.com\/7Fzjq3xBrn\u2014 RT_India (@RT_India_news) September 18, 2025 <\/p>\n
Kallas also told reporters that India\u2019s recent participation in the Zapad-2025 military exercises with Moscow and Minsk \u201cis a great concern\u201d.\u00a0
\n\u201cIf you want closer ties with us, then why participate in exercises that are existential threats to us,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, to be very clear on this message. We are not taking this lightly.\u201d
\nThe bloc\u2019s top diplomat called on Brussels and New Delhi to work together to defend the international rules-based order.
\nOn Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. \u201cI took the liberty of congratulating our friend, the Prime Minister of India, on his 75th birthday on behalf of you and everyone, and I would like to convey his best wishes to the entire Russian leadership,\u201d Putin told government officials.
\nModi thanked Putin on X for the call and said India is committed to \u201cfurther strengthening\u201d its \u201cspecial and privileged strategic partnership\u201d with Russia, adding that New Delhi was \u201cready to make all possible contributions towards a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brussels has no \u201cillusions\u201d about luring New Delhi away from Moscow, the vice president of the European Commission has said Decoupling India from Russia will be a challenge for the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t