Russia Dismisses Zelenskiy’s ‘Victory Plan’ as Gambit to Keep West Onside 

A view shows a site of a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine September 15, 2024. (Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy via Telegram/Handout via Reuters)
A view shows a site of a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine September 15, 2024. (Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy via Telegram/Handout via Reuters)
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Russia Dismisses Zelenskiy’s ‘Victory Plan’ as Gambit to Keep West Onside 

A view shows a site of a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine September 15, 2024. (Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy via Telegram/Handout via Reuters)
A view shows a site of a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine September 15, 2024. (Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy via Telegram/Handout via Reuters)

Russia on Friday dismissed a "victory plan" elaborated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a gambit to keep the West onside and said it had nothing to do with the search for a diplomatic or political solution to end the war.

Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that his plan, full details of which he has yet to disclose, was complete after much consultation.

He is due to present it to US President Joe Biden and to address a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday.

Zelenskiy has said his initiative is designed to create terms acceptable to Ukraine, now locked in conflict with Russia for more than 2-1/2 years.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that the plan looked like a self-interested gambit from the Ukrainian leader whom Moscow accuses of trying to drag the West into a full-blown war against Russia.

"The only goal is to forge or prevent the collapse of the anti-Russian coalition, and of course this has nothing to do with the task of finding a political and diplomatic settlement of the situation around Ukraine," said Zakharova.

She repeated Moscow's view that the West should stop financing and supplying arms to Kyiv and said any initiative purportedly aimed at reaching a peaceful settlement which did not include Russia was pointless.



India’s Navy Launches Submarine, Warships to Guard against China’s Presence in Indian Ocean

A view of the Indian Navy's three frontline vessels during the commissioning ceremony in Mumbai, India, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
A view of the Indian Navy's three frontline vessels during the commissioning ceremony in Mumbai, India, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
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India’s Navy Launches Submarine, Warships to Guard against China’s Presence in Indian Ocean

A view of the Indian Navy's three frontline vessels during the commissioning ceremony in Mumbai, India, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
A view of the Indian Navy's three frontline vessels during the commissioning ceremony in Mumbai, India, 15 January 2025. (EPA)

India's navy on Wednesday simultaneously launched a submarine, a destroyer and a frigate built at a state-run shipyard, underscoring the importance of protecting the Indian Ocean region through which 95% of the country's trade moves amid a strong Chinese presence.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that the Atlantic Ocean’s importance has shifted to the Indian Ocean region, which is becoming a center of international power rivalry.

“India is giving the biggest importance to making its navy powerful to protect its interests,” he said.

“The commissioning of three major naval combatants marks a significant leap forward in realizing India’s vision of becoming a global leader in defense manufacturing and maritime security,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while commissioning the vessels at the state-run Mazagon dockyard in Mumbai.

The situation in the Indian Ocean region is challenging with the Chinese navy, India’s main rival, growing exponentially, said Rahul Bedi, a defense analyst.

Bedi said that the INS Vagsheer submarine, the sixth among a French license-built Kalvari (Scorpene)-class conventional diesel-electric submarines, is aimed at replacing aging Indian underwater platforms and plugging serious capability gaps in existing ones. India now has a total of 16 submarines.

The P75 Scorpene submarine project represents India’s growing expertise in submarine construction in collaboration with the Naval Group of France, Bedi said.

India’s defense ministry is expected to conclude a deal for three additional Scorpene submarines to be built in India during Modi’s likely visit to Paris next month to attend the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

However, the first of these boats, according to the Indian navy, is only likely to be commissioned by 2031.

India commissioned its first home-built aircraft carrier in 2022 to counter regional rival China’s much more extensive and growing fleet and expand its indigenous shipbuilding capabilities.

The INS Vikrant, whose name is a Sanskrit word for “powerful” or “courageous,” is India’s second operational aircraft carrier. It joins the Soviet-era INS Vikramaditya, which India purchased from Russia in 2004 to defend the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal.