DISINFO: EU and Ukraine involvement in Russia-US talks will prolong war
SUMMARY
The involvement of the European Union and Ukraine in Russia-US talks (over the Ukraine war) will only lead to one thing: a breakdown of these talks and the prolongation of the war indefinitely. Zelenskyy will demand that nuclear weapons be handed over to Ukraine. European leaders will demand that Ukraine’s territories that are already part of Russia be returned. The main goal of French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and any German chancellor will not be a resolution, but rather the creation of the illusion that they have won a victory they neither have won nor will win. Their ambitions and intransigence will block the path to any agreements.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets trying to downplay the role of the EU in global affairs and claiming that Ukraine has no say in its future. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
EU officials have repeatedly stated that it is up to Ukraine only, as the victim of Russia’s aggression, to decide when peace talks with Russia may be possible and in which terms to end the war. Similarly, British leaders insisted that any lasting peace must ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and security, and Ukraine must be at the negotiation table.
While in practice Russia is blocking any real move that could advance actual peace in Ukraine, it has characterised its negotiation process with the US as the only acceptable ‘peace initiative’ regardless of the maximalist character of Moscow’s demands, while denying any agency to Ukraine or its other allies. The intensity of this disinformation campaign accelerated after Donald Trump’s electoral victory in November 2024, portraying the EU as the main obstacle for ‘peace’ in contrast to a Trump presidency focused on engaging Russia to end the war.
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.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Trump's peace promise in Ukraine clashes with Europe's warmongering politicians, that Europe does not want peace in Ukraine soon, and that The West sidelines Ukraine in peace talks.