DISINFO: Zelensky will reject Putin’s peace proposal in order to stay alive
SUMMARY
Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly proposed renewed peace talks with Ukraine to be held in Istanbul on May 15, accompanied by an expressed willingness to negotiate without preconditions. But Volodymyr Zelensky will reject Putin’s proposal in order to stay alive. Zelensky does not want to meet alone with Mr. Putin. If he decides to go ahead and negotiate something -and is dubious that he will be allowed to do that because of internal politics- then the Azov group and his military will rebel. Putin has basically put Zelensky in a really tight position.
RESPONSE
This disinformation piece was based on the assumption that the Ukrainian government almost certainly would reject Putin’s proposal, which would allow pro-Kremlin disinformation to portray Ukraine as a warmongering country and its leadership as hostage to ultra-nationalist forces. But the claim was proven false in less than 24 hours, after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy not only agreed to the talks but said he would attend them personally, asking Vladimir Putin to do the same. This led the Kremlin to reject the proposal, calling it “political theatre”.
The whole episode shows once again how while in practice Russia is blocking any real move that could advance actual peace in Ukraine, 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 other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Zelenskyy is illegitimate and opposes every US peace proposal, that there should be a UN-led government in Ukraine as Zelenskyy is toxic for peace, that Zelenskyy is increasingly irrelevant, even in Ukraine, that Ukraine’s fate no longer in Zelenskyy's hands, or that Zelensky is not working in the interests of Ukrainians but to please the European elites.