DISINFO: Russia could negotiate a peace that considers the will of former Ukrainian territories
SUMMARY
Russia is open to dialogue with the new US Administration about the conflict in Ukraine, but the goal of the agreement must be a long-term peace and not a brief truce. For Vladimir Putin it is necessary to remove the deep causes of the crisis, and an eventual peace agreement must take into consideration the realities of the frontline and the will of the residents of the former Ukrainian territories who expressed their desire to join Russia in their respective referenda.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portraying Russia as willing to negotiate a peace agreement and framing its demands as reasonable, when they are actually a maximalist request for international recognition of Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories through violent conquest and in violation of international law.
The mentioned territories - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - are not “formerly Ukrainian”, but remain legally part of Ukraine. The illegitimate forced annexation of these regions took place amid a full invasion by a foreign power and under military occupation, and after sham referenda that didn’t meet any international standard to be considered legitimate. The "referenda" were held illegally, under duress, and on territories which Russia does not even fully control. See here for a full debunking of this claim.
The disposition to negotiate with the US and not with the Ukrainian government is also a long-term pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative denying Ukraine’s sovereignty.
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.
See also the Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War and The Chilling Background to the Kremlin's "No War" trope.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Putin welcomes Ukraine talks while Zelenskyy rejects them, that the US destroys international security while Russia advocates for peace, that Russia is open to a sincere dialogue with the US, while the EU wants more war, that there is no such thing as occupied Ukrainian territories, that Moscow is liberating the regions that voted to join Russia in September 2022.