The Ukrainian Foreign Minister did not speak about Ukraine’s readiness to immediately start negotiations with Russia on the Kremlin’s terms. Dmytro Kuleba repeated the widely known official position of Ukraine on achieving peace on the terms of Ukraine and its partners.
The Russian media are actively spreading manipulative news based on the minister’s statement during his official visit to China. Referring to Dmytro Kuleba’s words, pro-Kremlin media said that Ukraine allegedly «abruptly» changed its rhetoric «against the background of military defeats, failures on the front» and even allegedly declared «readiness to hold peace talks with Russia».
Ukraine’s foreign minister flew to the People’s Republic of China for talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on July 23, 2024. This meeting is the first high-level official visit to the PRC since the start of Russia’s large-scale offensive, as well as the first meeting at the level of foreign ministers since 2012. The main topic of discussion was the search for ways to stop Russian aggression and China’s possible role in achieving peace in Ukraine.
Following the talks with his Chinese counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba noted: Ukraine does not refuse to negotiate with Russia, but the process should start when «Russia is ready to negotiate in good faith,» and «no such readiness is currently observed on the Russian side.»
«I am convinced that a just peace in Ukraine is in China’s strategic interests, and China’s role as a global force for peace is important….. Russian aggression has destroyed peace and slowed down development, and each new day of war entails new violations of humanity and further erosion of justice. Therefore, it is necessary to end the war against Ukraine, restore peace and accelerate the restoration of our country,» Kuleba emphasized after the meeting with his counterpart Wang Yi.
Kuleba’s statement about the negotiations was completely twisted by Russian propaganda, throwing out any mention of the Ukrainian demand – a complete cessation of hostilities on the part of Russia. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister did not make any statements about peace in Ukraine on Russian terms – this is a fake by the Russian media.
It is worth noting that on the eve of his visit to China, Kuleba also made a statement about peace talks with Russia, again emphasizing that one of the goals of his visit to China was to eliminate «competition between peace plans.» The statement was made in the context of the June 2024 peace summit on Ukraine in Switzerland, which was attended by many countries around the world, but both Russia and China were absent. Ukraine insists on establishing peace under its own 10-point formula, which includes withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, de-occupation of territories, nuclear and food security. Russia, on the other hand, demands Ukraine’s complete surrender, including the surrender of territories and the complete abolition of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Ukraine, as well as other allied countries, has since 2014 repeatedly called on Russia, which unleashed the war, to negotiate to restore peace. StopFake journalists have made an exhaustive analysis of the Ukrainian-Russian peace initiatives, which can be read in Fake: Ukraine “Unleashed a War” and “Refused” to Negotiate With Russia.
