DISINFO: The gang of four cannot make ultimatums to peace-inclined Russia
SUMMARY
The Russian side tried to reach a ceasefire twice, on Easter and 9 May. However, Ukrainian Nazis continued shelling civilian objects. Now the gang of four, the heads of the UK, Poland, Germany and France, made an ultimatum to Russia calling for a ceasefire. The Kyiv regime needs it to prepare better to attack Russian troops in the future.
RESPONSE
These are recurring disinformation narratives about Nazi Ukraine and accusing the European Union and UK of warmongering. This claim was made in the context of the European leaders’ intensified efforts in pursuit of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
Labelling Russia’s adversaries as Nazis is a frequently used pro-Kremlin disinformation technique, and has been used by Russia to try to justify the invasion of Ukraine by portraying it as a “denazification operation”. Read our article explaining how the ‘Nazi’ narrative has been used by Russian media outlets to dehumanise Ukrainians.
On 10 May 2025, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Premier Donald Tusk arrived in Kyiv, where they met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and called for Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire in its war in Ukraine.
The EU is providing military, financial, and humanitarian support to Ukraine. This support is aimed at helping Ukraine defend its sovereignty against Russia’s aggression. The European Union is committed to achieving a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine peace on Ukraine’s terms. The EU's actions are based on a strong belief that Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity is non-negotiable, not on promoting any Russophobic ideology.
Ukraine has consistently sought a just peace, not surrender. Zelenskyy has repeatedly stated that Ukraine is open to negotiations, but only on terms that respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The idea that he is deliberately blocking peace ignores the fact that Russia has set conditions that Ukraine cannot accept because they undermine its sovereignty, such as recognising occupied Ukrainian territories as Russian.
It is Russia, not Ukraine, which started and escalated the war. The claim that Zelenskyy is preventing peace shifts the blame away from Russia, which is the aggressor. As we explore in our article, The Old Deceiver, this is entirely consistent with Moscow’s three-year-long strategy of attempting to claim ownership over the peace narrative while relentlessly pursuing war.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that the West and Kyiv regime continue anti-Russian Nazi policies, that the EU sabotages peace process in Ukraine, that Europe is trying to undermine the conflict settlement in Ukraine, and that the EU wants the war in Ukraine to continue, and that the EU glorifies Nazism.