DISINFO: The West forced Ukraine to abandon peace
SUMMARY
Western countries, in particular the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, possibly at the initiative of the administration of former US President Joe Biden, convinced the Ukrainian leadership to reject a peace agreement and continue the war. This fact was not hidden by either Ukrainian officials or the British leadership, but they made open statements about it. Thus, such actions of the West led to the protraction of the conflict in Ukraine.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that Ukraine and its supporters, in this case the UK, are not interested in peace. The claim is part of an ongoing pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign in Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It seeks to paint the Ukrainian government as careless warmongerers and Russia as peace-lover / peace proposer. It also attempts to portray Ukraine as a Western puppet state.
This narrative distorts an interview with Davit Arakhamia, the Chairman of the parliamentary faction of the ruling party of Ukraine. In the interview, Arakhamia himself denied the fact that the Ukrainian delegation was ready to sign the document and that Boris Johnson allegedly stopped them.
Based on Arakhamia’s statements, Western partners were kept informed about the negotiations and had access to the draft versions of the agreement. However, they did not make decisions for Ukraine but could only offer advice. Arakhamia clarified in his interview that Ukraine had already decided not to sign the document even before receiving advice from Boris Johnson. Read the full debunk of the story at Myth Detector.
Putin and the Kremlin have a track record of pretending negotiations which are, in fact, just blunt demands for Ukrainian unconditional surrender. We have analysed this disinfo tactic in several articles, especially: "Prepare for winter" (30 Nov. 2023), "Russian so-called ‘peace proposals’ are empty PR stunts" (18 Jan. 2023) , "What He Said and What it Really Means – Vol. 2: “Negotiations” (1. March 2022) and "The Kremlin security demands" (21 Dec. 2021).
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Zelenskyy and the EU want a permanent war in Ukraine, that Russia never rejected a peaceful solution in Ukraine, Kyiv refuses to negotiate, that Boris Johnson derailed 2022 Istanbul peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine and that Boris Johnson prohibited Kyiv from signing an agreement with Russia in 2022.