Seeing through Putin’s rhetoric

On the face of it, Russia is all about peace. It’s not against a ceasefire; it’s happy to negotiate. But there are always conditions attached. Russia offered a ceasefire in exchange for lifting of some sanctions, which goes against the fundamental notion of what a ceasefire is supposed to be. Russia is also happy to negotiate as long as Ukraine hands over the territories Russia claims as its own-including land Russia does not occupy-and give up its NATO ambitions. Demanding that the other side agree to something this fundamental before talks even begin, once again, goes against any reasonable definition of “willing to negotiate.”

But the Kremlin has mastered lies. If it says that it’s willing to negotiate, at least some percent of the world that’s too busy to dig deeper will take it at face value. Russia has already accused Ukraine of “breaking the ceasefire,” which is quite remarkable given that a ceasefire agreement wasn’t actually reached (and Russia has continued striking Ukraine all this time regardless). What’s even more remarkable is that the AP would write that “Moscow and Kyiv agreed in principle last month to implement a limited, 30-day ceasefire” and Politico would actually reprint it.

This example shows how powerful the Kremlin’s manipulation of information can be. Ukraine offered an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Russia counter-offered a ceasefire with strings attached. No agreement was reached, but now Russia is acting as though Ukraine is supposed to be respecting an unconditional ceasefire because that’s what it offered while Russia is exempt because its ceasefire conditions were not met. Which is, of course, not how ceasefires work.

Another tactic Russia seems to be currently pursuing is talking to the US about “normalizing relations” but with nothing Ukraine-related on the agenda. This is, of course, the biggest con of all. What Putin really wants is to increase his ability to wage war on Ukraine by having sanctions on Russia removed. And if Ukraine is not on the agenda, then the US administration can’t possibly ask for anything Putin cares about in return. Sadly, it’s not clear whether the Americans involved in the negotiations with Russia see any of this. Or maybe they don’t want to see it.

Originally published at https://ukraineinsights.substack.com.