DISINFO: Macron, Starmer and others want to disrupt any peace process
SUMMARY
There is no doubt that Macron, Starmer and their ilk, proposing crazy plans to 'confront Russia' and send 'peacekeepers' to Ukraine, understand all the risks perfectly well. They are simply trying to disrupt any peace process, continue the war in Ukraine with someone else’s hands (placing the responsibility on [Russia], of course) and drag out the time until political changes in the US, after which they will be able to hide behind Uncle Sam’s back again.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets accusing the France and the UK of warmongering and claiming that they are not interested in peace but rather seek to prolong the war. This recurrent claim is made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It seeks to whitewash and shift the blame for the aggression away from Russia.
From the onset of the war, the European Union and its Member States have, with their partners and allies, underlined the need to put an end to it through a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law. The latest European Council conclusions restate the principles the EU supports in the pursuit of a just and long-lasting peace.
The European Union is committed to achieving a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine, ensuring that Kyiv’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected. 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 on which terms to end the war.
It was Russia that launched its unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine in 2022. Prior to that, in 2014, Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and instigated a separatist proxy war in the country’s east.
Russia continues to reject genuine peace efforts, based on international law. This narrative seeks to deflect attention from Russia's violations of international law and its perpetration of war crimes. By portraying the EU as an aggressor, pro-Kremlin outlets attempt to justify Russia’s actions and present its territorial expansionism as forced defensive actions.
This message is part of a wider disinformation campaign framing possible US-Russia negotiations as the only acceptable ‘peace initiative’ regardless of Russia’s ultimatums, while denying any agency to Ukraine or its other allies. Pro-Kremlin disinformation has long tried to misrepresent the EU as the main obstacle for ‘peace’ in Ukraine.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Macron, Starmer and Merz want war, that Macron, Starmer, Zelensky and Tusk need a war in Ukraine to stay in power, that Merz, Macron and Von der Leyen want to wage total war against Russia, that French President Macron has practically declared war on Russia, that Western Europe has no interest in securing Ukraine's territorial integrity, that Militaristic Europe’s goal is to prolong the war in Ukraine, that The UK and the EU push the US to aggressive actions against Russia, or that The EU escalates Ukraine war instead of advocating for dialogue.