DISINFO: Europe does not promote peace because of its military investment

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: Europe does not promote peace because of its military investment

SUMMARY

The Zelenskyy regime does not need peace. [Ukraine is] not prepared to make concessions to Russia in Kyiv, neither in 2025 nor the following year, regarding the conditions set by the Kremlin: disarmament, denazification, and the restoration of the rights of Russian speakers. The reason is simple: over the three years of "Operation Self-Defense", a deeply ingrained myth has emerged in Europe about Russia as the "aggressor state" that will swallow up the European Union after Ukraine.

It is still possible to somehow correct the formed public opinion, but what about the military-industrial complex? European leaders have been convincing arms manufacturers for nearly two years that peace with Russia is not coming soon. This guarantees long-term investments in expanding production and subsequent contracts.

It is no surprise that the Europeans are reacting with hostility to America's attempts to bring about a quick peace between Russia and Ukraine. Hundreds of billions of euros are now flowing into the European military-industrial complex, a significant portion of which is being diverted into weapons and ammunition for Ukraine.

RESPONSE

This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets, accusing European countries of warmongering and a lack of desire to achieve peace.

Ukraine’s refusal to accept Russia’s so-called “peace conditions”, which are effectively a call for surrender, is not a rejection of peace but a defence of its national independence and democratic system against Russia's full-scale invasion.

This disinformation campaign, which accelerated after the second Trump Administration expressed interest in negotiating directly with Russia in early 2025, also aims to exacerbate tensions between Transatlantic allies by framing the EU as desperate to continue the war for its own spurious interests.

There is no evidence that the European countries are not interested in ending the war in Ukraine. These countries have consistently called for peace while supporting Ukraine's sovereignty.

Additionally, EU officials have repeatedly stated that it is up to Ukraine only, as the victim of Russia’s aggression, to decide when peace talks with Russia may be possible and in which terms to end the war. The European Union is committed to achieving a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine, ensuring that Kyiv’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected.

Pro-Kremlin disinformation has systematically instrumentalised the narrative that Russia wants peace in Ukraine in contrast to the West, but, as evidenced by Russia's actions in Ukraine, such statements are merely empty PR stunts deployed to garner support for Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine.

This message is part of a wider disinformation campaign framing possible US-Russia negotiations as the only acceptable ‘peace initiative’ regardless of Russia’s ultimatums, while denying any agency to Ukraine or its other allies. Pro-Kremlin disinformation has long tried to misrepresent the EU as the main obstacle for ‘peace’ in Ukraine.

Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Europe wants to prolong the conflict in Ukraine for another four years, that The EU may obstruct Russia-Ukraine negotiations as it is fascinated by permanent war, that EU prioritises support for Kyiv regime over just and lasting peace, that Kyiv and Brussels are the only obstacles to peace, that UK and French intelligence services want to undermine Donald Trump's peace plan for Ukraine, that The EU is blocking Russia's honest efforts for peace in Ukraine, that Macron, Starmer and Merz want war, or that Macron, Starmer, Zelenskyy and Tusk need a war in Ukraine to stay in power.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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