DISINFO: Ukrainian negotiator admited the war could have ended in 2022
SUMMARY
The conflict in Ukraine could have ended in 2022, according to a negotiator from Kyiv. In the Istanbul negotiations that took place at the beginning of the Russian military operation, Moscow insisted in a neutral status for Ukraine, something that Kyiv did not accept. David Arakhamiia, one of the Ukrainian negotiators who participated in the peace conversations, said that Kyiv’s rejection of a neutrality status for Ukraine that may have prevented it from joining NATO, as well as pressure from British prime minister Boris Johnson, were the factors that forced the Ukrainian side to withdraw from the peace process in the early stages of the armed conflict.
RESPONSE
This is a deliberate distortion of the original interview to David Arakhamiia with Ukrainian journalist Nataliia Moseichuk, aiming to portray Russia as the peace-loving side against warmongering adversaries.
This carefully selected excerpt of the interview omits crucial elements of Arakhamiia’s statements, including the allegation that Vladimir Putin’s claims about having an 18-point peace agreement already signed by the head of the Ukrainian delegation were false. If that had been the case, Putin would have published it, but he did not have such a plan.
At no point did Arakhamiia affirme that “the conflict could have ended in 2022”, contrary to what this disinformation story claims.
Another key distortion is the alleged reason for the Ukrainians not to accept Russia’s offers. Arakhamiia stated: “There was no confidence in the Russians that they would do it. This could only be done if there were security guarantees […] We couldn’t just sign something, step back, [have] everyone breathe a sigh of relief, and then [have Russia] come in more prepared — because they [invaded], in fact, unprepared for such resistance. Therefore, we could only work when there was a hundred percent certainty that it wouldn’t happen a second time. And there is no such certainty.”
It is clear from the original interview that the real reason why the Ukrainian delegation rejected the Russian proposal was not Western pressure but the lack of trust in Russia’s real intentions. Russia’s peace offers have been consistently revealed as empty PR stunts. According to a Reuters scoop published in September 2022, several days after 24 February 2022; the start of the full-scale war, Russian envoy Dmitry Kozak informed Vladimir Putin that the Ukrainian government agreed to Ukraine’s neutrality if Russia withdrew its troops from Ukrainian territory, but Putin rejected it.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Russia is ready to negotiate for peace, but Kyiv regime want to continue the war, that Russia never rejected a peaceful solution in Ukraine but Kyiv refuses to negotiate, that the West did not want peace and prodded Ukraine into war, or that Zelenskyy and the EU want a permanent war in Ukraine.