Putin navigating waters with consummate skill: says foreign affairs expert after Russia credits Trump for India-Pak mediation

New Delhi [India], June 6 (ANI): As Russian aide Yury Ushakov endorsed United States President Donald Trump's claim of mediating between India and Pakistan, former diplomat and foreign affairs expert K P Fabian said on Friday that it was simply a diplomatic move by Russia amid friction regarding the Ukraine war.
The former diplomat said that the Russian president is "navigating waters with consummate skill," as the country has rejected Trump's demand for an unconditional ceasefire with Ukraine. He also voiced his belief that India could have acknowledged Trump's claim in a "gracious way" without diminishing India's victory with Operation Sindoor.
"My personal view, let me repeat it, India could have acknowledged it (Trump's mediation claims) in a gracious manner without diminishing in any way from India's great victory. Now Russia has said it, partly true. Look at the context; Russia is being difficult with Trump about Ukraine. Trump has been asking for a practically unconditional ceasefire, which Putin has refused. So he was navigating waters with consummate skill," Fabian told ANI here.
While Fabian agreed that the US was in contact with both Islamabad and New Delhi but it was not India that had requested mediation, but it could be assumed that Pakistan did, which was subsequently pushed in the "right direction" by the US.
"Both (US) Vice President Vance and Secretary of State (Marco) Rubio were in touch with both Islamabad and New Delhi. At some point in time, when the Indian Air Force was able to strike hard, Pakistan did not know what to do, whether to escalate or de-escalate or ask for a ceasefire. At that point, Washington pushed Pakistan in the right direction," he said.
Fabian, however, did not agree to Trump's claim of mediating talks, calling it a "violence of the English language." he said that mediation can only happen when both sides ask for it.
"Trump said there was mediation, now that is...a slight violence to the English language, because there can be mediation between A and B by C, only if A and B ask C. In this case, we may assume that Pakistan did ask, but we also know that India did not ask, so there was no mediation, from which it doesn't follow that Trump did not contribute to the ceasefire," the former diplomat said.
Both India and Pakistan announced an understanding on the cessation of hostilities on May 10, following the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) calling his Indian counterpart to discuss the issue.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 and struck nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir in response to a ghastly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed. The operation targeted terror infrastructure inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, eliminating over 100 terrorists linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Following the strikes, Pakistan retaliated with cross-border shelling and attempted drone attacks. In response, India launched coordinated airstrikes that damaged key military infrastructure across 11 Pakistani airbases. (ANI)