DISINFO: ‘Peace’ conference in Switzerland a propaganda exercise to cover up Zelenskyy’s illegitimacy
SUMMARY
The ‘peace’ conference in Switzerland is a propaganda exercise to try to cover up the fact the Kyiv regime is not legitimate. Everyone knows that the conference in Switzerland is a joke and a fraud that is based upon Zelensky’s peace programme. The Switzerland summit will just be an anti-Russian propaganda stunt designed to further vilify Russia in the eyes of the world. As for Zelensky, he has never been a legitimate president of Ukraine. The last legitimate president of Ukraine was Viktor Yanukovich, who was overthrown in the NATO orchestrated coup d'etat of 2014 and who has never served out his complete term. So when the Kyiv coup regime conducted subsequent elections they could not be considered free and fair by any standards in the world. They were all rigged to maintain the coup regime in power under different figures or puppets.
RESPONSE
This is a pre-emptive attempt to discredit the peace summit which Switzerland will host on 15-16 June 2024, mixed with pro-Kremlin narratives questioning the legitimacy of Ukrainian authorities and specifically president Volodymyr Zelenskyy -frequent targets of pro-Kremlin disinformation- and falsely portraying Ukraine’s Maidan protests as a coup d’etat.
Following Ukraine’s request, Switzerland has invited over 160 delegations from around the world to join for the first Summit on Peace in Ukraine. The invitees include members of the G7, G20, BRICS, many other countries from all continents, as well as the EU, three international organisations and religious representatives. According to the Swiss government, the summit aims to create a framework favourable to comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine, as well as "a concrete roadmap for Russia's participation in the peace process." If the summit does not provide fruitful results, it will be because of Russia's impossible preconditions for a peaceful settlement. Russia refuses to engage in any talks before the "unconditional surrender of the Kiev [sic] regime."
This is also being opportunistically exploited to push disinformation narratives about the legitimacy of different Ukrainian governments. After the protests which led President Viktor Yanukovich to flee Ukraine with the help of Russia, the country had for some months an interim president voted by the Ukrainian parliament, which also called for immediate elections. Since then, Ukraine has had two different presidents -Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskyy-, both of which were elected by wide margins by the Ukrainian people in democratic elections that ensured their legitimacy.
These disinformation narratives are being pushed again to challenge Zelenskyy’s legitimacy. However, the Ukrainian Constitution is straightforward: the President of Ukraine exercises his powers until the assumption of office by the newly-elected President. The continuity of government institutions is one of the key principles of the Constitution. Ukraine’s constitution clearly stipulates that no elections can be held during wartime. While this situation has caused some domestic controversy in Ukraine, almost all observers consider regular elections unfeasible as there are millions of refugees abroad, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians serving on the frontlines and a significant part of Ukrainian population lives under Russian occupation. There are also multiple funding and infrastructure problems that can hardly be addressed while the war is still ongoing. Also, a wide majority of Ukrainians think that the country should wait until the end of the war before celebrating new elections.
Allegations about Ukraine’s Maidan as a coup d'etat have been debunked multiple times (see for example here, here and here).
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the Switzerland peace conference is set up to issue useless ultimatums to Russia, that the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland is an Anglo-Saxon attempt to isolate Russia, that the West has no intention of ending the conflict in Ukraine, that Zelenskyy and the EU want a permanent war in Ukraine, or that Zelenskyy’s peace plan is a war formula.