DISINFO: The special military operation continues due to Kyiv’s unwillingness to engage in dialogue
SUMMARY
The special operation continues because the Kyiv regime has rejected dialogue with Moscow through political and diplomatic means․
It is too early to talk about the relationship between the two countries after the operation, since all the tasks set must first be resolved. Moscow would like to do this through political and diplomatic means.
The special military operation is continuing in conditions where these means have become impossible, when all proposals for dialogue have been rejected - both by Ukraine itself and by Westerners․
RESPONSE
This is an attempt to exploit the latest round of Ukraine-Russia discussions in Istanbul in late July 2025, aiming to shape the information environment by framing Russia’s stance as “constructive” despite the maximalist character of its demands, which remain unchanged and portraying Ukraine’s position in a negative light.
"The special military operation" is a Kremlin euphemism for Russia's war against Ukraine and full-scale invasion, now ongoing into its fourth year.
Russia’s so-called “peace initiatives” have typically demanded that Ukraine surrender territory, sovereignty and its ability to defend itself, terms that no sovereign nation could accept.
Ukraine is defending its territory by Article 51 of the UN Charter, and Kyiv’s international partners, including some EU and NATO member states, are providing it with military and economic assistance to help it repel the Russian invasion. Ukraine’s armed forces and security services plan and carry out high-precision strikes on Russian military facilities. These are legal insofar as they are aimed at military sites and production facilities used for military purposes (see here and here).
As explained in the past analysis, Russia de facto demands that Ukraine recognise the occupied territories by Russia and surrender, which cannot be defined as a goodwill or a peace proposal as such. We have detected, tracked, and debunked this tactic many times.
The growing rate of air attacks against civilian infrastructures in Ukraine shows Russia's lack of interest in peace. Russia’s bombing patterns show a marked intensification of drone and missile attacks against Ukraine since the inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2025, including multiple spikes after diplomatic talks and contacts, which prove that Russia’s supposed embrace of peace negotiations is merely an empty PR stunt deployed to garner support for Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the Istanbul talks are Russia’s peace gesture towards Ukraine as a failed state, that Russia wants to solve the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict while the West wants to sabotage peace, that Zelenskyy and the EU want a permanent war in Ukraine, that Zelenskyy’s peace plan is a war formula, that Europe obstructs the peace process between Ukraine and Russia, or that Zelensky sabotages peace dialogue with Russia as did in Istanbul in 2022.