WHAT KREMLIN PROPAGANDISTS SAY:
Since the outbreak of the war, Kremlin propagandists have been claiming that ‘Ukraine is hampering peace negotiations.’ This disinformation narrative portrays Ukraine as being ‘unwilling’ to reach a diplomatic end to the conflict. Putin has sought to characterise Ukraine as unwilling to engage in peace talks. Speaking to journalists, President Putin stated that Ukraine “had been saying that they wanted talks and ostensibly asked for them, but now they issued a formal decision that prohibits them.”[1]
Since the outbreak of the war, Kremlin propagandists have been claiming that ‘Ukraine is hampering peace negotiations.’ This disinformation narrative portrays Ukraine as being ‘unwilling’ to reach a diplomatic end to the conflict. Putin has sought to characterise Ukraine as unwilling to engage in peace talks. Speaking to journalists, President Putin stated that Ukraine “had been saying that they wanted talks and ostensibly asked for them, but now they issued a formal decision that prohibits them.”[2]
This disinformation narrative became especially prevalent after talks which were due to take place were called off following the uncovering of the Bucha massacre.[3] Russia continues to deny that the Bucha massacre took place and has accused Ukraine of using Bucha as a ‘fake event’ to interrupt negotiations.[4]
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed: "It is obvious that this terrible criminal fake was fabricated in order to justify another pre-arranged package of sanctions, including the large-scale expulsion of Russian diplomats from a number of Western countries and, of course, in order to complicate, if not completely thwart, the negotiations, when Kiev started to demonstrate signs of a realistic approach."[5] This narrative is closely linked to other disinformation narratives surrounding the West’s role in the war, including: ‘the West seeks to prolong the war.’
WHAT ARE THE FACTS:
Russia’s notion of ‘peace’ holds a number of conditions. These include that Ukraine should recognise the “new territorial realities” of Russia’s sovereignty over the annexed and partially occupied regions of eastern Ukraine[6]. Debunk.org has investigated how calls for ‘peace’ often play into the hands of Russia, with proposed solutions to the conflict often involving Ukraine conceding large parts of its territory to an aggressor.[7]
Ukraine has a right to defend itself and its territory. As an independent nation, Ukraine is allowed to consider the amount of Ukrainian suffering that any agreement would entail, as well as the opinion of Ukrainian citizens.[8] Ukraine’s right to self-defence has been internationally recognised and supported through the provision of military aid from Western allies.[9] The West continues to support Ukraine and has not interfered with the scheduling of peace negotiations.[10] The President of France, Emmanual Macron, stated: "Ukraine will decide political conditions for peace."[11]
Ukraine has already tried to secure a peace deal – going as far as to offer Russia the “neutrality” it claimed it wanted.[12] Ukraine has previously sought to negotiate a complete ceasefire to end the war in Donbas through the Minsk and Normandy agreements.[13] As part of these efforts, Ukraine began fulfilling preparatory steps including withdrawing their troops in three sites in order to facilitate a meeting.[14] It is Russia’s actions which "destroyed" the Minsk agreement when Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.[15] By claiming that Ukraine does not want to negotiate, Kremlin propagandists seek to portray Ukraine and its leadership as an irrational actor and shift the responsibility for the conflict away from Russia.
Russia attempts to portray Ukraine as unwilling to engage in diplomatic negotiations, despite the fact that by the end of March 2022, five rounds of negotiations had already taken place between Ukraine and Russia. Pro-Kremlin propagandists have relied upon this narrative to shift the responsibility for the conflict onto Ukraine. By claiming that ‘Ukraine is hampering peace negotiations’ Russia seeks to portray itself as a reasonable and willing participant in negotiations with a genuine desire to broker peace. In reality, Ukraine remains open to negotiations, with President Zelenskyy directly refuting the notion in a November 2022 tweet, stating "Ukraine has never refused to negotiate. Our negotiating position is known and open."[16]
References:
[4] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-ally-says-bucha-killings-are-fake-propaganda-2022-04-05/
Debunker is a series of disinformation-busting articles from Debunk.org which focus on dispelling the harmful lies and propaganda being pushed by pro-Kremlin sources. Check out the rest of the series at debunk.org/debunker.