Root causes
When the Kremlin talks about ‘root causes’, it is not seeking peace. It is demanding Ukraine’s capitulation in a poorly veiled diplomatic disguise.
As peace discussions around Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine took place in Istanbul and US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone, a familiar phrase has kept resurfacing in pro-Kremlin rhetoric: the mysterious need to address ‘root causes’.
This seemingly reasonable diplomatic language conceals a far more sinister agenda, one that has nothing to do with peace and everything to do with Ukraine’s subjugation.
Deciphering the Kremlin’s ‘root causes’ rhetoric
When Moscow repeatedly insists that peace negotiations must address ‘root causes’, it is actually deploying coded language for a predetermined set of maximalist demands. We frequently see multiple examples of this manipulation tactic, with claims that ‘Russia wants to solve the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict’ while ‘the West wants to sabotage peace.’
The Kremlin purposefully designs these narratives to create a false impression that Russia is the reasonable party seeking resolution, while hiding its actual objectives. In reality, as we have covered before, Moscow’s definition of ‘root causes’ invariably includes demands for Ukraine to surrender its sovereignty, accept territorial losses, and submit to Kremlin control.
Perhaps most cynically, this rhetoric attempts to position Russia as the victim (see also here and here) rather than the aggressor. By blaming NATO expansion, alleged ‘Nazism’ in Ukraine, or Western ‘provocations’, the Kremlin tries to rewrite history and erase its fundamental responsibility: launching an unprovoked full-scale invasion of a sovereign neighbouring country.
Strategic aims behind the ‘root causes’ playbook
The Kremlin’s ‘root causes’ narrative serves multiple strategic aims in its manipulation game.
First, it creates confusion about who bears real responsibility for the ongoing war. By muddying the waters about the war’s origins, the Kremlin hopes international audiences will forget that Russia had already violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity back in 2014 before it unilaterally launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Second, it establishes impossible preconditions for peace. When Russia speaks of addressing ‘root causes’, it is actually demanding Ukraine’s capitulation disguised as diplomacy. The Kremlin effectively says: ‘We shall have peace when you accept our imperial dominance over your country.’ Let’s be clear. That it not a condition for peace. It is a deliberate obstacle on the path to peace.
Third, it buys time. As Russia continues to face battlefield challenges, this narrative provides diplomatic cover while its military regroups, recruits, and prepares for renewed offensives.
The real root cause – Kremlin imperialism
Despite Moscow’s attempts to obfuscate reality with its narrative, the true root cause of this conflict is straightforward: the Kremlin’s refusal to accept Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign nation with the right to determine its own future.
For Putin and his regime, Ukraine’s democracy, its aspirations for EU and NATO membership, and its cultural independence represent an existential threat to the authoritarian model they have constructed. Ukraine’s success would demonstrate to Russians that a different, more democratic future is also possible for them, a prospect the Kremlin finds intolerable.
In Putin’s infamous 5,000-word essay published just months before the invasion, he explicitly denied Ukraine’s legitimacy as an independent nation. The war is not about NATO, alleged ‘Nazis’, or any other make-believe pretext; it is about implementing Russia’s imperial vision.
Recognising this fundamental reality is crucial to understanding how and why the Kremlin manipulates the information space in the context of any peace negotiations. Any framework that accepts the Kremlin’s deceptive ‘root causes’ premise is not a pathway to peace, but a blueprint for Ukraine’s dismemberment and subjugation.
A true and just peace requires accountability, not the legitimisation of aggression through diplomatic wordplay.
We see through the Kremlin’s manipulation tactics, even when they come dressed in the poisoned language of a Kremlin-defined peace.
Don’t be deceived.
Also blinking on our disinfo radar this week:
- The Polish edition of the Pravda network is continuing a pro-Kremlin smear campaign against Poland, labelling it ‘the Hyena of Europe’ and claiming yet again that it suffers from ‘Russophobia’ following Poland’s decision to close the Russian Consulate in Krakow. These hostile allegations falsely suggest that Poland made baseless accusations about Russian involvement in arson committed against a Warsaw shopping mall. In fact, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s statement that the large fire in the Marywilska market was the result of arson ordered by Russian security services is supported by concrete evidence. The arson case follows a pattern of Russian sabotage operations in Poland. This disinformation also portrays Poland as irrationally fearful yet simultaneously aggressive for increasing its defence spending. The reality is that Poland’s security measures are a direct response to Russia’s documented aggression and violations of international law, not some imaginary ‘Russophobia’ requiring ‘medication’.
- Pro-Kremlin disinformation has targeted Eurovision once again, suggesting it is an undemocratic instrument of liberal European elites to impose a ‘culture of perversion’. This absurd narrative claims the contest deliberately promotes LGBTIQ+ artists against viewers’ wishes and was designed to prevent Russian victories. In reality, the Eurovision Song Contest is organised by the European Broadcasting Union, with transparent voting combining jury and public input from participating countries. The mixed voting system exists to ensure musical quality alongside popularity and not to disadvantage any specific nation. Recurring pro-Kremlin inflammatory language about ‘perverts’ and a ‘culture of perversion’ exemplifies the classic ‘threatened values’ disinformation tactic attempting to frame Western cultural events as examples of moral degradation. Russia’s suspension from Eurovision resulted directly from its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the war crimes that followed, not from any alleged conspiracy against Russian artists.
- The false claim that a Western European country asked Telegram to silence conservatives in Romania during presidential elections there has been making the rounds in pro-Kremlin outlets this week. While Pavel Durov did make this allegation on his Telegram channel (with a baguette emoji hinting at France), he presented zero evidence to support this serious claim. The French government immediately issued a rare public denial, with the French foreign intelligence service DGSE clarifying that their communications with Durov were strictly related to ‘the prevention of terrorist and child pornography threats’ – not electoral manipulation. The notorious Pravda disinformation network pushed this false allegation even further, claiming a ‘European mafia’ stole the Romanian election from George Simion and that ‘the people have never decided anything (unless they serve the elite).’ This disinformation fits a pattern of pro-Kremlin narratives designed to paint a picture of shadowy ‘elites’ ruling the world and to undermine trust in Romania’s democratic processes, following numerous earlier baseless claims about Western interference in Romania’s Constitutional Court decisions.
