Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the story that "Ukraine and Russia were close to a peace agreement in the spring of 2022" but Ukraine allegedly "rejected it" is one of the favorite lies promoted by Russia and its sympathizers to shift the focus. However, a closer look at the facts reveals that the whole story does not stand up to criticism, the head of Ukraine's diplomacy said, UNN reports.
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"I sometimes hear people say that Ukraine and Russia were close to a peace agreement in the spring of 2022, but Ukraine rejected it. And that's why, in their opinion, the full-scale war has been going on for three years. Well, this is one of the favorite lies propagated by Russia and its sympathizers. A closer look at the facts shows that the whole story does not stand up to scrutiny, and it will take me less than four minutes to prove it," the Foreign Minister said.
But, he advised: "first ask yourself, why is Russia spinning this story?"
"The answer is simple: by focusing public attention on the Istanbul talks, the Russians are trying to shift the blame for the war in the center of Europe from themselves, the aggressor, to Ukraine, which was attacked. They want people to forget that it was Russia that started a full-scale war in February 2022, and instead focus on the negotiations at the end of March 2022," the Foreign Minister said.
"By shifting the focus, they are trying to tell everyone: "You see, Russia really wanted peace. ' It was Ukraine that refused." Absurd. If Russia wanted peace, it should not have attacked Ukraine in the first place," Kuleba said.
He pointed out that "yes, it is true that the Ukrainian and Russian delegations have been meeting since the first days of the invasion." "They did discuss ways to overcome this. But the positions were so far apart and the Russian demands so strange that there was no prospect of a real solution even remotely. the draft documents leaked to the press simply reflect this discussion, but cannot be considered a real agreement. Every diplomat knows that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. And it is quite obvious that nothing was agreed upon in March or April 2022," the Foreign Minister said.
"The idea of holding talks between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine was indeed discussed, but Russia rejected it," Kuleba added.
He noted that "other people sometimes say that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came to Kyiv and pressured President Zelensky not to sign a peace agreement with Russia." "This is a very funny story. First of all, anyone who has ever met President Zelensky knows that he is not the kind of person to put pressure on to make any decision. Secondly, because the process of negotiations between the delegations actually continued throughout April and even May, long after Johnson's visit. It doesn't quite fit the story, does it?" - Kuleba said
"So who really destroyed the prospect of peace? Was it Boris Johnson or Volodymyr Zelenskyy? No, the man's name is Putin. He has been destroying peace in Ukraine for more than a decade, first by occupying Crimea and part of Donbas in 2014, then by obstructing the Minsk and Normandy peace processes, then by launching a full-scale aggression, and then by refusing to stop it. That is why the war is ongoing," the Foreign Minister said.
"Only together we can stop Russia and put an end to its aggressive plans for the rest of Europe. To make this happen, continue to support Ukraine and do not buy into Russia's lies," Kuleba concluded.