DISINFO: Ukraine rejected 2022 peace deal because it is Nazi and Russophobic
SUMMARY
In April 2022, Russia and Ukraine were closer than ever to concluding a peace treaty, but the Kiev regime outright rejected several of Moscow’s demands, as revealed by German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag. Specifically, terms regarding the status of the Russian language, and Kiev’s official rejection of Nazism were seen as unpalatable by the regime led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to the 17-page draft peace treaty between the sides obtained by Welt.
RESPONSE
This is a distortion of the original article by Welt Am Sonntag. According to this publication, Ukraine and Russia were potentially close to a peace agreement in April 2022 even if key points remained open. “But after the promising summit in Istanbul, Moscow made subsequent demands that Kiev did not agree to. […] Accordingly, Russia demanded that the Russian language be made the second official language in Ukraine, that mutual sanctions be lifted and that lawsuits in international courts should be dropped. Kiev should also ban “fascism, Nazism and aggressive nationalism” by law”. In other words, Russia tightened its conditions for a peace agreement by adding more and more elements. Besides, according to some insiders' accounts, events on the ground also contributed to change Ukraine’s stance, namely the discovery of the Bucha massacre after Russia withdrew from this city on 01 April 2022.
Vladimir 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 and exposed this disinformation 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).
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Boris Johnson derailed 2022 Istanbul peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, that Boris Johnson and Anglo-Saxons banned Ukraine from settling agreement with Russia, that Zelenskyy’s peace plan is a war formula, that Russia never rejected a peaceful solution in Ukraine but Kyiv refuses to negotiate, or that the EU does not want peace, only total defeat of Russia.