DISINFO: Ukraine and Western countries disregarded Russia’s goodwill for peace talks
SUMMARY
By accepting participation in the Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul, Russia demonstrated enormous goodwill. It moved forward despite a total dependence on and lack of legitimacy of Ukraine’s representatives. The Russian side also proclaimed that it is ready to recognise the new borders within Russia’s constitution, although the Russian army is capable of reaching further. The Kyiv gang and its foreign curators did not take this goodwill seriously. Given this, Russia will not agree to a ceasefire until Western countries stop arms supplies to the Kyiv regime and until Ukraine puts mobilisation on hold. In case Russia does not reach the announced goals through diplomatic means, they will be achieved militarily.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative claiming that Western countries are waging a proxy war against Russia and using Ukraine as a tool. It accuses Ukraine and its Western partners of failing to take Russia’s proposals seriously, particularly those voiced during the Istanbul peace talks in May 2025.
Another relevant recurring pro-Kremlin narrative is about the inevitability of a Russian victory in Ukraine. While a shortage of military manpower remains a real difficulty for Ukraine, this also affects Russia. Since early 2025, massive losses have slowed down Russian advances in the Ukrainian frontlines, making Russia’s war effort unsustainable in the medium term.
As explained in the past analysis, Russia de facto demands Ukraine to recognise occupied territories by Russia and surrender, which cannot be defined as a goodwill or a peace proposal as such. We have detected, tracked, and debunked this tactic many times.
The May 2025 Istanbul negotiating round started after Vladimir Putin called for direct negotiations between both countries in Istanbul. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy not only agreed to the talks, but said he would attend them personally, asking Putin to do the same. This led the Kremlin to reject it, calling it “political theater”. The negotiations ended quickly after the Russian delegation demanded that Ukraine surrender all the territory of 4 Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russia or face further conquest.
The whole episode shows how while in practice Russia is blocking any real move that could advance actual peace in Ukraine, pro-Kremlin disinformation has systematically instrumentalised the narrative that Russia wants peace in Ukraine in contrast to the West.
Ukraine is not fighting on behalf of any foreign government or organisation. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state with a democratically-elected president and parliament. Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity have been violated in continuous acts of aggression by Russia’s armed forces since 2014 culminating in a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022. Some 50 plus nations around the world including EU member states and the US support Ukraine with military and financial aid for the country’s efficient self-defence, in accordance with the UN Charter article 51.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that the Istanbul talks are Russia’s peace gesture towards Ukraine as a failed state, that the West did not want peace, it prodded Ukraine into war, that Zelenskyy and the EU want a permanent war in Ukraine, and that a ceasefire would lead to the Nazis using more Ukrainians as cannon fodder.