By EUvsDisinfo
On 10-11 November, Russia and Ukraine held US-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi. Before the meeting, the Kremlin had stated that it is genuinely ready for talks, yet its FIMI machine had been working overtime ahead of the negotiations, seeking to shape the talks before they even begun. By portraying Europe as an obstacle to peace, pushing to exclude it from the negotiating table, and presenting Moscow’s demands as non-negotiable, Russia tried to undermine Ukraine’s and Europe’s positions and maximise the concessions it can extract. For the Kremlin, disinformation is not just commentary on the peace process. It is part of its negotiating strategy.
Europe’s security, without Europe
Ahead of the peace talks in Abu Dhabi, Russia set out to argue that Europe should be kept out of the negotiations. Russian officials and pro-Kremlin commentators have been pushing the same message:
- Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov insisted that the negotiations should involve only Russia, Ukraine, and the US as a mediator, arguing that European governments’ stance is ‘provocative’ and aimed at prolonging the war.
- Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova declared that European countries have ‘no business’ being at the negotiating table.
- Senator Alexei Pushkov claimed that European leaders are ‘doing absolutely nothing to make [the negotiations] possible. In fact, they are doing the opposite.’
- Other pro-Kremlin commentators have also suggested that Europe would only obstruct peace negotiations and that the US could broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine more easily without the EU.
This is more than an attempt to discredit European diplomacy. By portraying Europe as an obstacle to peace, Moscow seeks to weaken its influence over negotiations that will directly affect European security. It also seeks to drive a wedge between Washington and its European partners, leaving Ukraine in a weaker negotiating position and Russia with greater room to push its demands.
Casting Europe as the warmonger
These claims are part of a longstanding effort to paint Europe as a warmonger and recast Russia’s war against Ukraine as Europe’s war against Russia. This reflects a broader feature of the Kremlin’s worldview: Russia portrays itself as engaged in a confrontation not just with Ukraine, but with Europe and the wider West. In this framing, the war against Ukraine becomes one front in a larger conflict, while European support for Ukraine is presented as aggression against Russia. In this distorted version of reality, Ukraine is merely a proxy for Europe, which is allegedly determined to fight Russia ‘to the last Ukrainian’. Pro-Kremlin sources also claim that whenever Europe tries to negotiate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, its real aim is to secure a pause that would allow it to rearm Ukraine or send troops into the country.
The portrayal of Europe as determined to keep the war going goes hand in hand with suggesting that it wants talks only because it is losing. This narrative also twists discussions about a multinational force to protect Ukraine, suggesting that Europe’s real goal is to send troops rather than secure lasting peace. Another version of this narrative claims that deploying Western peacekeepers to Ukraine would amount to its occupation and a loss of sovereignty for the country. Along with helping Moscow push Europe out of peace negotiations, these claims allow it to undermine security guarantees for Ukraine.
Committed to rejection
Russia, the Kremlin claims, is committed to peace talks. In reality, Russia has a long record of rejecting peace or ceasefire proposals, either turning them down outright or demanding additional conditions.
The pattern is clear:
- March 2025: Ukraine agreed to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire, but Russia refused to accept it unconditionally.
- May 2025: European leaders called for a full 30-day ceasefire. Putin declined and proposed talks in Istanbul instead, which brought no breakthrough.
- November 2025:S., Ukrainian and European representatives met in Geneva to revise the 28-point US peace plan. Russia rejected the revised proposals.
- December 2025: Ukraine and the US supported a holiday ceasefire, but Moscow turned it down.
- March-April 2026: Ukraine proposed an Easter ceasefire, but the Kremlin responded skeptically, insisting on a comprehensive peace agreement rather than a temporary truce. Russian attacks continued.
- April 2026: Ukraine proposed a reciprocal energy ceasefire, offering to halt attacks on Russian energy infrastructure if Moscow stopped striking Ukrainian energy facilities. The proposal, conveyed through U.S. mediators, was not accepted.
- October 2026: Following a S. announcement of an energy ceasefire, Russian strikes continued, including an attack on a power plant in Kharkiv.
- October 2026: Ukraine proposed a 60-day ceasefire to allow presidential elections to take place. Russia rejected it, insisting that it wanted a long-term peace settlement rather than a temporary pause.
Peace on Moscow’s terms
Whenever Russia says it is ready for peace talks, it insists that they address what the Kremlin calls the ‘root causes of the conflict’ or ‘Russia’s security interests.’ Behind these formulations lie sweeping demands: Ukraine must surrender territory, abandon its NATO ambitions and accept severe restrictions on its military. Moscow continues to claim four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – which it illegally declared annexed in 2022, despite never fully controlling them. These annexations have no validity under international law.
The narratives promoted by the pro-Kremlin FIMI ahead of the talks tried to shift blame for the war away from Russia and allow the Kremlin to push for more favourable terms and further concessions from Ukraine. They also aimed to drive a wedge between the US and Europe, weakening Western unity and support for Kyiv. As for the negotiations themselves, without any willingness to compromise on Russia’s demands, they are nothing more than an ongoing PR exercise.
By EUvsDisinfo
