Let us not censor reality as "Kremlin talking points"

By Glenn Diesen, professor at the University of Southeast Norway

The narrative that it is impossible to negotiate with Russia has led hundreds of thousands to lose their lives on the battlefield.

Critiques of the narratives about the War in Ukraine are often dismissed by claiming that these critiques repeat "Kremlin talking points" and "Russian propaganda". I believe loyalty to these war narratives ignore reality and contribute to the destruction of Ukraine. The diplomat and author Niccolò Machiavelli wrote 500 years ago that human beings do not wish to see the world as it really is, and that this will lead to our downfall.

The invasion was not unprovoked

Russia sees NATO's expansion into Ukraine as an existential threat, something Western and Russian leaders have warned about for the past 30 years. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Moscow sees Ukrainian NATO membership as a "declaration of war".

William Burns, former director of the USA's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), claimed that Russia would feel compelled to intervene [if Ukraine were to pursue NATO membership]. It is irrelevant whether or not one agrees with Moscow's interpretations; ignoring these interpretations was what set us on the road to war.

The New York Times confirms that immediately after the Western-backed regime change in Ukraine in 2014, the new Ukrainian chief of intelligence called the CIA and Britain's MI6 to start a hidden war against Russia. Moscow was Ukraine's most important partner just a few days before. The Washington Post wrote in 2023 that the USA rebuilt the Ukrainian security services "from the bottom up" to serve as an ally against Russia.

NATO countries sabotaged peace negotiations

CIA bases were established along the Russian border, something the New York Times confirms was a cause of Russia's invasion. The narrative of an unprovoked invasion necessarily implies a lack of diplomatic solutions.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyj said in March 2022, "It is the Westerners who have nothing against a long war, because that would mean wearing down Russia, even if this means Ukraine's destruction and costs [many] Ukrainians' lives." Both Turkish and Israeli [sic] negotiators said that Russia and Ukraine nearly had a peace treaty in 2022, but that the USA and UK sabotaged the treaty in order to utilize Ukraine in a war with Russia.

Former Inspector General of the Bundeswehr Harald Kujat confirms this.

The narrative that says that it is impossible to negotiate with Russia led to diplomacy being thrown out the window for three years while hundreds of thousands of young men died on the battlefield.