Ukraine's FM refutes Russia's narrative about "broken peace agreement" with Moscow in spring 2022
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba denied rumors that Ukraine and Russia were allegedly close to a peace agreement as early as the spring of 2022, but under the influence of Britain, Kyiv "rejected it." The diplomat stated this in a video comment published on X.
"This is one of the favorite lies promoted by Russia and its sympathizers to shift the focus… and blame. However, a closer look at the facts reveals that the whole story does not hold water," he said.
The minister called to think about why Russia is "promoting" this story. He noted that by focusing attention on the Istanbul negotiations, the Russians are trying to shift the blame for the war in central Europe from themselves as the aggressor to Ukraine, which was attacked.
"They want people to forget that it was Russia that started the full-scale invasion in February 2022 and instead focus on the talks at the end of March 2022," Kuleba said.
According to him, by shifting the focus, Moscow is trying to convince everyone that Russia allegedly wanted peace, but Ukraine rejected it.
The minister recalled that Ukrainian and Russian delegations did meet in Istanbul at the beginning of the full-scale invasion and discussed ways to end the war.
"But the positions were so far away, and Russia's demands were so bizarre that the prospect of a real solution wasnot remotely in sight. The draft documents leaked in the press simply reflect that discussion, but cannot be considered a real deal," said Kuleba.
He added that every diplomat knows the rule that "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed."
"And it is very certain that nothing was agreed in March-April 2022," the minister said.
Kuleba also refuted another Russian narrative that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came to Kyiv and allegedly pressured President Volodymyr Zelenskyy not to conclude a peace agreement with Russia.
Ukraine's top diplomat stated that only the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin can be considered guilty of the breakdown of the potential agreement.
On April 15, the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, said that there are currently no talks about peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia as Kyiv has a tough position on winning the war.
On April 30, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that if the Russian Federation demonstrates a desire to hold peace talks, the United States will definitely "be there".
On May 2, Defense Intelligence representative Vadym Skibitskyi said that he does not see a possibility for Ukraine to win the war on the battlefield alone, but he believes that meaningful negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow are possible no earlier than the second half of next year.