Kuleba: If Russia wanted peace, it shouldn’t have attacked Ukraine in the first place
Russian propaganda promotes a false narrative that Ukraine and Russia were supposedly close to a peace agreement in the spring of 2022, but the Ukrainian side rejected it to divert attention from a full-scale invasion in February.
This was stated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, who posted a video commentary via X, Ukrinform reports.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy noted that he sometimes hears that Ukraine and Russia were close to a peace agreement in the spring of 2022, that Ukraine rejected it, and that this is why the full-scale war has been going on for the third year already. According to him, this is one of the “favorite lies” promoted by Russia and its sympathizers. However, upon closer examination of facts, it turns out that the story does not stand up to any criticism.
"Ask yourself, why is Russia promoting this story? The answer is easy: by focusing the public on Istanbul talks, Russia is trying to shift the blame for the war in the middle of Europe from themselves, the aggressor, to Ukraine, the attacked country. They want people to forget that it was Russia that started the full-scale war in February 2022 and instead focus on the talks at the end of March 2022. By shifting the focus, they are trying to tell everyone: ‘See, Russia actually wanted peace. It was Ukraine that rejected it.’ Absurd. If Russia wanted peace, it should never have attacked Ukraine in the first place," Kuleba said.
He noted that the delegations of Ukraine and Russia did meet in Istanbul at the very outset of the full-scale invasion and discussed ways to end the war. But their positions were so far away, and Russian demands were so bizarre, that the prospect of a real solution was not even remotely in sight. According to Kuleba, the draft documents leaked to the media simply reflect the discussion, but cannot be considered a real agreement, because nothing was agreed upon in March 2022.
Kuleba also refuted another Russian narrative – that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson came to Kyiv and allegedly pressured President Zelensky not to conclude a peace deal with Russia.
In this context, he emphasized that, firstly, Zelensky cannot be pressured into any decision, and, secondly, the negotiations between the delegations continued throughout April and even in May, that is, well beyond Boris Johnson visited Ukraine.
Summing his post up, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy noted that in fact it was not Boris Johnson or Volodymyr Zelensky but Vladimir Putin who ruined the prospect of peace.
"He has been ruining peace in Ukraine for more than a decade. (...) This is why the war drags on. Only together can we stop Russia and put an end to its aggressive plans for the rest of Europe," the head of the Foreign Ministry emphasized.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Global Peace Summit will be held in Switzerland on June 15-16. Heads of state and government from all continents are expected to take part in the event. The countries that will take part in the initiative will develop a common negotiating position to hand it over to Russia.