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The Genocide Salesman: How Putin ‘Sells’ the Destruction of Ukraine to Russians and ‘Peace Negotiations’ to the West and the Global South. An Overview of Propaganda in the Russian Media Space in November 2023. Part 2
The Kremlin has shown both the carrot and the stick to the countries of the Global South who wish to receive cheap Russian resources. This includes those in the hands of Western “friends of Putin.”
As we wrote in the first part, the Kremlin was preparing the population for the continuation of the war and instilling the belief in a victory over Ukraine by spring of the following year. At first glance, it may seem that victory is intended to be the crowning achievement of the fake presidential elections.
On the other hand, as Putin’s rhetoric and behavior show, the presidential campaign is meant to serve as a cover for imposing on the population the notion that war is a way of life for Russia. By voting for Putin, Russians are essentially voting for war and for the Kremlin’s right to define what constitutes war and peace.
In our opinion, creating this opportunity to draw a line between the state of war and peace was the main task of Russian propagandists in their work with external audiences in November. It is worth noting that, given the importance and scale of this task, this work will continue throughout the next year.
The thoroughness of the Russians’ approach to processing foreign audiences is evidenced by several events during which they voiced at a high level the fundamental talking points that will be used to conceal and justify aggression against Ukraine in the next 12 months.
Firstly, on November 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced “five main directions of Russia’s new foreign policy course” at a round table with foreign ambassadors.
Lavrov said nothing new about Russian foreign policy, nor did he define any new directions. Instead, the foreign audience received a dose of propaganda and disinformation. We managed to identify three main messages that will be broadcast to the outside world starting from November:
“Russia broke off relations with the West because a hybrid war is being waged against it “with Ukraine’s hands”
In other words, Lavrov wanted to convince 35 ambassadors from Africa, Asia, and Latin America that Russia was not the aggressor but the victim of aggression. It must be said that in early 2023, 142 UN states did not buy into this, condemning Russia’s aggression and occupation of Ukraine at the General Assembly. Thus, Lavrov’s words should be seen as the announcement of the start of an official campaign to change this negative attitude toward Russia. First and foremost, this will be done by enforcing the idea of Ukraine’s association with the West.
“The crisis in the global economy is not caused by Russian aggression, but by anti-Russian sanctions”
This statement was so important to Lavrov that he repeated it several times in different terms, each time using different topics sensitive to the invited countries, from climate change and green energy to food security:
November 10, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
“The crisis phenomena in the world economy are caused not by Russia’s military special operation in Ukraine, not by the defense of the Russian population, but by Western anti-Russian sanctions. As well as by ‘systemic mistakes in the macroeconomic policies of Western countries during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the push towards a “green” transformation without considering the peculiarities and basic indicators of economic development of most countries in the world’...
Sanctions in the foreseeable and distant future are not going anywhere...
During the sanctions period, Lavrov noted that Russia had developed “the potential for industrial production and the creation of critically important technologies and was currently preparing a special law on high technologies.”
According to Lavrov, a “sign of the times” has been “the widespread use of national currencies in international transactions, with a gradual and steady reduction in the share of the dollar and euro.” This process also includes China, India, Turkey, the UAE, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Kenya, and several ASEAN countries...
The instability in the global energy market was provoked by the USA and its vassals, jeopardizing the sustainable development of the world economy. Primarily, this refers to the forced “green transition” and its imposition on unprepared countries, limiting investment in the supposedly environmentally harmful oil and gas sector and abandoning traditional fuels for the same reason.
Combined with the boycott of energy resources from Russia, sanctions, and other anti-market measures of the West, these steps have led to the disruption of historically established production and domestic chains, the redistribution of global energy flows, and an increase in transactional and logistical costs...
Only 3% of food from Ukraine reached poor countries. Furthermore, the West has deprived and continues to deprive them of hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian fertilizers blocked in European ports. Moscow is ready to supply this product for free and grain to the six most needy African countries (Somalia, CAR, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, and Eritrea).
Clearly, Russia’s main goal is attracting as many countries as possible that do not support US and EU sanctions to increase bilateral trade, especially bypassing Western banks. In exchange, Russia will provide preferential oil and food to its new partners. In other words, Lavrov tried to convince the attending ambassadors that by helping Russia circumvent Western sanctions, their countries would receive significant economic benefits.
“All information about the war crimes of Russian troops in Ukraine is false, and Russia will fight the spread of such information”:
November 10, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
“Abroad, there are often false and hypocritical speeches and media publications regarding the ‘massacre in Bucha’. Reminding how the Westerners, together with Ukrainians, orchestrated this vile anti-Russian provocation, for which Moscow has long demanded an investigation, Lavrov said:
‘It’s been a year and a half since then, and no one talks about what investigation is being conducted or by whom... They achieved the necessary external effect, got an excuse for more sanctions, but carefully hid their lie so deeply that no one could reach it.’
By criticizing the UN for ‘not being able to shirk its responsibility in these matters’ in its reluctance to investigate the crime attributed to Russia, Lavrov sent a clear signal: Moscow will not rest until people continue to believe in this lie. This is particularly relevant now, he noted, when ‘issues of international humanitarian law have become extremely acute in connection with what is happening in the Middle East.’”
This statement by Lavrov should indeed raise concern in Kyiv and Western capitals. Russia quickly understood how to exploit the confusion of Western societies due to the war between Israel and Hamas.
During the conflict, the blurring of the line between truth and fiction, factual reporting, and fake news and disinformation became so powerful that Russia will leverage this wave of distrust towards Western sources to refute and deny everything they report about Russian crimes in Ukraine.
Moreover, Lavrov sends a clear signal that the spread of negative Western media reports about Russian atrocities in Ukraine will be considered “unfriendly” policy and such countries risk losing economic advantages in their relations with Russia. In other words, Russia resorts to open blackmail: only those who turn a blind eye to its crimes in Ukraine will receive cheap Russian resources.
On November 27, the Kremlin sanctioned another release of talking points for external consumption. This time, the occasion was the so-called Primakov Readings – a forum named after the late ex-KGB intelligence officer, former head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, former Foreign Minister, and ex-Prime Minister of Russia, Yevgeny Primakov.
It’s important to note that Primakov, unlike Putin, genuinely belonged to the elite of the Soviet special services and understood the limits of capabilities of both the late USSR and post-1991 Russia. However, both shared a belief in the special mission of the USSR and Russia and the right to control other countries, particularly Ukraine; hostility towards the West; and a desire to develop relations with the “third world.” After 2000, Primakov voluntarily recognized Putin’s primacy and became an informal advisor on foreign policy.
Therefore, the Primakov Readings, under the guise of an intellectual forum, turned out to be a platform for the ideological servicing of Putin’s foreign policy ventures.
It’s no surprise then that the main talking points of the “readings” became the justification of the war against Ukraine as the beginning of the “formation of a new, more just and democratic system of international relations, which meets the interests of the majority.”
In this context, it is worth paying attention to the emphases placed by Putin’s courtiers and propagated by the Kommersant publication:
1. Influential foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov:
Russia considers itself part of the “world majority” — Eurasian countries with the largest populations and economies.
Russia’s strategic partners will be the BRICS countries. However, BRICS members can fully develop relations with the EU and the USA as long as it does not contradict or harm the interests of China and Russia.
Thus, the Kremlin continues to convince the countries of the Global South, especially the democratic members of BRICS — South Africa and Brazil, that Russia has decisively severed ties with the West because they harmed its national interests. Consequently, South Africa and Brazil should also refrain from steps that, in Moscow’s view, could threaten it.
2. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:
Global international cooperation formats, such as the G20, should not be used against Russia or give a voice to Ukraine.
Although this message was very specific, it did not mention the country by name. In 2024, the G20 presidency will be transferred to Brazil – a country with a large Ukrainian diaspora and which has ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It is well known that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. So Russia is now competing to ensure that the issue of Ukraine and Putin’s crimes are not raised at meetings of high-ranking officials and heads of state within the framework of the G20 events.
The Kremlin’s preparation and commencement of a special media campaign aimed at creating a favorable media environment for its foreign policy activities in 2024 was evidenced by Putin’s own speech at the G20 summit.
It’s worth mentioning that in November, on the eve of this speech, a number of Russian figures and pro-Russian Western “experts” issued statements about Russia’s “readiness” for dialogue and negotiations to end the war. Of course, on Russia’s terms.
The main claim of the war criminal at the G20 summit was that Russia is “ready for negotiations,” while Ukraine “sabotages the peace process.”
Moreover, at the G20 summit, Putin once again positioned himself as a “responsible” global player, concerned about food and energy security and suffering from “terrorist attacks” from the West. Naturally, all this was done so that his message would be quoted by the media from all participating countries of the summit.
If the Kremlin’s words about supplying grain to Africa are meant to divert attention from the blockade of Ukrainian grain exports, then the mention of the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline was meant to mitigate the media resonance from the destruction of the pipeline between Estonia and Finland.
November 6, 2023, RT in Russian:
“The Executive Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, David Harland, stated that China could be a good mediator between Russia and Ukraine due to its approach to international relations.
’I think China would be an excellent mediator,’ RIA Novosti reports his words.”
November 9, 2023, RT in Russian:
“The Russian president’s assistant Yuri Ushakov stated that Russia is ready for negotiations with Ukraine, but there is no hint of readiness for such a step from Kyiv. His words are quoted by Life.ru: ‘We are ready, but there has not been even a hint from their side at all,’ said Ushakov.”
November 12, 2023, RT in Russian:
“It’s high time for Washington and Kyiv to realize that defeating Moscow on the battlefield is impossible, said Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
He said this in an interview on the program ‘Moscow. Kremlin. Putin on the Russia 1 channel.”
November 12, 2023, RT in Russian:
“Amid statements by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about readiness for dialogue with the Russian leader, Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov reported that Vladimir Putin is open to contacts and ready for productive negotiations.
’The President never excludes contacts, the President always talks about his openness to various contacts, especially at the highest level,’ he said at a briefing with journalists.”
November 23, 2023, RT in Russian:
“The press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov stated that pressure regarding negotiations on Ukraine should not be applied to Russia, but to those who refused dialogue.
He reminded that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that Moscow has never refused dialogue with Kyiv, reports TASS.
’As for pressure from the Americans, time has repeatedly shown that it is absolutely useless — we firmly stand on our positions, on our path,’ TASS quotes him.”
November 24, 2023, Kommersant.ru:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at the online G20 summit organized by India. He addressed the military conflict in Ukraine, stating that Russia has never refused to conduct peace negotiations with the Ukrainian authorities…
He also touched on the topic of the global food crisis. Mr. Putin noted that ‘markets are becoming more turbulent, chronic problems in the international financial sector, and in the fields of energy and food security are becoming worse.’ ‘Russia fulfills all its obligations in the field of food and energy security, remains one of the largest exporters of food, and today the first ships with Russian grain are being sent to Africa, to the needy countries for free,’ explained the President of Russia.
Discussing the investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, Vladimir Putin called the incident ‘an act of state terrorism,’ the perpetrators of which must be identified. ‘To eliminate competitors, gain advantages, unfair methods of competition are being used. I mean, in particular, not only the destruction of transport-logistical chains and channels of international payments but also acts of state terrorism. A glaring example of this is the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline system, laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea,’ he added.”
At the same time, in our opinion, an important reason why the Kremlin intensified its “peacemaking” rhetoric in November was the spread by leading Western media of articles about “fatigue,” an “unsuccessful counteroffensive,” and a possible “defeat” of Ukraine in the war with the more powerful Russia. The implication was that Ukraine should consider negotiations with Russia since Western aid in sufficient quantities is not guaranteed.
November 2, 2023, RT in Russian:
“Republican Senator from Alabama Tommy Tuberville stated that now is an ‘excellent moment’ to start negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. This was reported by Fox Business.”
November 4, 2023, RT in Russian:
“The USA and Europe are discussing possible negotiations with Russia with the Ukrainian authorities and what Kyiv will have to make a sacrifice to reach an agreement.
They... began talking with the Ukrainian government about the possible consequences of peace negotiations with Russia... The discussions included the general outlines of what Ukraine might have to give up to reach an agreement, reports NBC, citing officials.”
November 10, 2023, RT in Russian:
“The long-awaited counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army, which began on June 4, ended in failure, as evidenced not only by the statement of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who called the situation on the front ‘stalemate,’ but also by a study conducted by the British magazine The Economist.”
November 10, 2023, Kommersant.ru:
“Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated that according to Budapest, Ukraine, in March 2022, on the instructions of the USA, refused to sign a peace treaty with Russia. However, he clarified that this information should be considered ‘diplomatic gossip.’
According to the politician, the Hungarian leadership received such information ‘from various reports and intelligence data.’ ‘According to our data, indeed in 2022 in Istanbul, where secret negotiations took place, there was essentially an agreement, which — as the diplomatic gossip goes — the Ukrainians did not sign under the influence of the USA,’ Mr. Orban said on the Hungarian radio Kossuth.
Viktor Orban added that previously similar information was disseminated by German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who was one of the mediators in organizing last year’s Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.”
November 11, 2023, Kommersant.ru:
“Businessman Elon Musk: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy needs to agree to negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
November 11, 2023, RT in Russian:
“The businessman Elon Musk, in a podcast with blogger Lex Fridman, called on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to start negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin… Musk advised Zelenskyy ‘not to send the best of Ukrainian youth to die in the trenches,’ regardless of whether he will negotiate with Putin or not. The situation on the front has developed such that continuing the offensive will lead to greater casualties, he added.”
November 11, 2023, Kommersant.ru:
“The European Union’s plan to allocate €20 billion for military aid to Ukraine faced resistance, including from Germany, and may not come to fruition in its current form, Reuters sources reported.”
November 11, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
“Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen proposed accepting Ukraine into the alliance within its new borders, i.e., without considering Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. ‘The time has come to take the next step,’ the former NATO Secretary General’s words are quoted by the British newspaper Guardian.”
November 12, 2023, RT in Russian:
“The Ukrainian army’s counteroffensive has failed, and Europe should stop hoping for a miracle, writes the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine.
The journalists note that even if the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, did not express it so clearly, his latest statements became an acknowledgment of this fact.”
November 13, 2023, RT in Russian:
“University of Chicago political science professor John Mearsheimer stated that Russia has once again become a superpower thanks to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. He said this during a presentation at the Centre for Independent Studies.”
November 13, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
“Ukraine will definitely defeat Russia if it now agrees to cede part of its territories, including the ‘land bridge’ to Crimea. The author of this formulation is not a pacifist nor an advocate for peace with Russia but a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and U.S. Navy admiral. Behind his statement lies a strategy to which we have yet to adapt.
He calls for using ‘lessons from the Korean War.’ According to him, this lesson is that the West still won a victory, albeit not immediately, because skyscrapers stand in Seoul and cars drive there that are not found in Pyongyang. Ukraine, writes Stavridis, will also one day (in a few decades, he specifies) defeat Russia by becoming prosperous, democratic, and exporting lots of agricultural products. And, of course, by joining the EU and NATO.
He wrote all this for Bloomberg, meaning for one of the most serious and prestigious Western publications. A few months ago, his article would have been not just popular but sensational. Now, it is not: it is clear that this article is one of many in line with the mainstream of Western political thought. Obviously, forward-looking politicians in the West are already prepared to reconcile with Russia’s annexation of the ‘new territories.’ Of course, they will not forget to declare their defeat as a victory: they did, after all, ‘stop the Russians.’”
November 15, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
“Ukraine should ‘come to terms with the loss of part of its territories,’ and the West should agree that Russia will retain Crimea and the ‘land bridge to it.’ Such a statement was made by former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and U.S. Navy admiral James Stavridis...”
November 15, 2023, RT in Russian:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has gained the upper hand in the conflict in Ukraine amidst a situation where Western countries have shifted their attention from Kyiv to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This was stated in a podcast by The Guardian newspaper.”
November 15, 2023, Kommersant.ru:
“The November meeting of the EU Defense Ministers took place in an atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty. In the West and in Ukraine, there has been a concurrent discussion about the difficult situation on the battlefield by the end of 2023, leading to the conclusion that allies urgently need to step up support for Kyiv. The problem is that there is no unity among the 27 EU members regarding the types and volume of military shipments. Moreover, it turned out that the production capacities of the European Union’s defense industry cannot provide the promised volumes of assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces…
The separate €20 billion fund for military aid to Ukraine, once promised by Josep Borrell and budgeted for four years, is unlikely to happen as planned…
Summarizing the meetings, Josep Borrell, however, tried to reassure the public... Mr. Borrell stated that the European Union has not completely abandoned the goal of delivering 1 million shells by March 2024 and will do everything possible to achieve it. His words, however, did not convince the journalists gathered at the press conference, demanding more clarity from the European official…”
November 16, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
“Lately, there has been so much written in English about Russia winning the war against the West that one can’t help but suspect some trick. They want to lull our vigilance. And they have reasons to be optimistic...
In Foreign Affairs, political scientists Daniel Hamilton and Angela Stent acknowledge that the US has failed to counter Russia’s global influence. Despite all efforts, Russia is winning — it’s hard to believe, but that’s what they write — the information war…
A no less telling article appeared in The Economist around the same time.
America and its allies see growing threats. Russia and China see opportunities. Middle powers, courted by larger ones but concerned about the growing dysfunction of institutions like the WTO and the UN, see both... An axis is indeed forming between Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, rejecting the version of the international order led by America.
Interestingly, the article doesn’t even attempt to show what America and its ‘democratic allies’ should do to counter our ‘axis’ and the ‘disorder’ it creates in the world. The analysis boils down to stating a fact: things are bad for the West and getting worse.
Meanwhile, as others globally ponder the world as a whole, The Guardian simply and plainly admits that while the world’s attention is riveted on the war in the Middle East, Vladimir Putin has gained the upper hand in Ukraine. Time is on his side.
The article practically leaves no chance for Western allies. And it doesn’t look like a sensation — on the contrary, this seems to be the dominant narrative of the Western press now. We are losing, the Russians are winning, all is lost.
As usual, it’s very interesting to see how the new Western ‘narratives’ are reflected in the writings of ‘relocants’ — both officially recognized and not yet recognized foreign agents who hope to be heard in Russia. Political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya in Paris muses that although Russia wins tactically, it is still destined to suffer a strategic defeat. Is there a particular way she sees this defeat?
No matter how much the West tires of Ukraine, no matter how the balance of power in Western political circles changes, it’s hard to imagine the emergence of an effective political force that would bet on normalizing relations with Russia... Putin’s calculation that a ‘pragmatic’ and nationally-oriented West will prevail and life will get back to normal also doesn’t come true. Russia will also be doomed to live in conditions of a consistently hostile West.”
“This speech addresses the ‘internal emigration,’ the fifth column within Russia. This speech gives an idea of what and whom the West is counting on in the face of its almost inevitable defeat. This speech allows us to draw not very optimistic conclusions about how events will develop.
It is clear what and whom the West is counting on in the face of its almost inevitable defeat: the fifth column and oligarchs continue to support Western policy.”
November 17, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
It’s Time to End Magical Thinking About Russia’s Defeat — an article with such a loud headline was published in the authoritative American business newspaper The Wall Street Journal. The authors of the publication indicated that there are no signs that Russia is losing either in Ukraine or in its confrontation with its Western allies.
It is noted that the record number of sanctions imposed against Moscow did not cause the country’s economy to collapse as planned. Even factories built in Soviet times have outpaced modern European ones in terms of arms production rates.
President Vladimir Putin has withstood all the pressure that Western leaders have tried to exert on him. His power has not weakened? Despite all the efforts of opponents.
The US and its allies need a new strategy — deterrence, urge the authors of the article.”
November 17, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
“Allies are warning Ukrainian head Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Kyiv’s losing position, writes Time. ‘Western leaders are secretly warning Zelenskyy that time is not on his side. <…> But attempts to make him start negotiations with Putin so far lead to nothing,’ states the publication. In addition, the article emphasizes that overall, the situation is developing in favor of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
November 22, 2023, RT in Russian:
“Constanze Stelzenmüller, head of the Brookings Institution’s United States and Europe Center, stated that the staunchest proponents of territorial settlement in Ukraine are in the office of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
This was reported by the Financial Times. ‘The fact that the most ardent proponents of territorial settlement in Ukraine sit in the office of the German Chancellor is a well-known secret of the alliance,’ RIA Novosti quotes Stelzenmüller.”
November 24, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
“News about the state of affairs with support for Ukraine from the United States was published by the influential American newspaper Politico. According to the source, the White House received a request from Republicans in the House of Representatives about the feasibility of funding Kyiv and gave a response in a separate letter. The newspaper reports that the right-wing representatives of the parliament did not find the arguments of the Biden administration convincing.”
November 25, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
“Russian entrepreneur Evgeny Chichvarkin admitted that Western countries have lost in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, and the policy of Russian President Vladimir Putin has won.”
November 26, 2023, RT in Russian:
“Western countries need to push Vladimir Zelenskyy to conduct negotiations with Russia. This opinion was expressed by the leader of The Patriots Party in France, Florian Philippot. On his X account, he emphasized that starting a dialogue with Moscow as soon as possible was necessary.”
November 27, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
“One of the international sensations was the publication in the British daily newspaper The Times, in which the authors reported that allegedly on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, ‘sleeper spies’ caused ‘real chaos in Kyiv.’ Allegedly, ‘Kremlin agents’ caused real discord among politicians and military personnel. However, political scientist Vladimir Kornilov noted a nuance. The fact is that the only source of this ‘sensation’ was the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov.”
November 28, 2023, RT in Russian:
“A slightly different point of view was expressed in an RT commentary by Alexey Podberezkin, Director of the Center for Military-Political Studies at MGIMO. According to him, the West will continue to support Kyiv, only to then move to negotiations on favorable terms for themselves. ‘The balance of power is radically changing in favor of Russia. Everyone acknowledges this. The fact that the AFU are taking huge losses in personnel and equipment as part of the counteroffensive is done only to move to stabilization and negotiations on favorable terms for themselves. For this, they are ready to sacrifice people and equipment,’ concluded the expert.”
November 29, 2023, RT in Russian:
“The Western sanctions imposed on Russia have failed to change the course of the conflict in favor of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, writes the newspaper Politico.”
November 29, 2023, RT in Russian:
“Moscow may be surprised by the outcome of the EU leaders’ summit in December, writes the Danish publication DR. According to the publication, the decision to start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU may be postponed from the December summit to the next meeting in March.”
November 29, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
“The agenda of Western media has radically changed — articles about corruption in Ukraine and the lack of prospects for the AFU on the battlefield have appeared.
Currently, a report by the German channel Welt is devoted to the advance of the Russian army and the unenviable position of the Kyiv regime.
’Putin is undoubtedly intensifying the pressure with these airstrikes and makes it clear that the Russians are not going to stop, that the attacks will continue! That’s his goal! The psychological factor also plays a role here!’ says the reporter.
Then, the staff of the German channel discussed that the initiative on the battlefield had shifted to the Russians, with more and more territories coming under their control. And the Ukrainians are now racking their brains about how to survive this winter!”
November 29, 2023, Kommersant.ru:
“The first meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council at the level of foreign ministers took place in Brussels…
Meanwhile, as anonymously reported by a senior U.S. State Department official to Reuters, NATO does not believe in the possibility of a peaceful settlement, as demanded by Hungary, until the end of 2024 — early 2025. At meetings in Brussels, diplomats concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not sue for peace with Ukraine before the results of the 2024 U.S. presidential elections, scheduled for November 5. While Moscow has repeatedly assured that it is ready for negotiations and insisted that the initiative to break off contacts did not come from it, the West does not believe in the sincerity of this rhetoric…
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on colleagues to forge a ‘winter shield’ for Ukraine and to saturate its air defense with various systems and weapons in anticipation of the cold and expected strikes on critical infrastructure. However, Mr. Stoltenberg clearly had the fewest issues with Ms. Baerbock. In recent days, he has at least three times cited Germany and the Netherlands as examples of countries actively helping Ukraine and announcing military supplies to Kyiv for a total of €10 billion.”
30 November 2023, RT in Russian:
“Russia seems to be winning the situation around Ukraine and may achieve victory due to Europe’s indecisiveness, writes the British journal The Economist. ‘The West could do much more to upset Putin’s plans. If it wanted, it could deploy far greater industrial and financial resources than those available to Russia,’ asserts the weekly.”
30 November 2023, RT in Russian:
“University of Chicago political science professor John Mearsheimer stated that Washington could force Kyiv to the negotiating table with Moscow.
’We see how the Biden administration is maneuvering with respect to Ukraine, trying to put an end to this,’ he said in an interview with the YouTube channel Judging Freedom.”
It seems clear that the Kremlin decided to take advantage of this favorable media background to promote its terms for ending the war, which are remarkably similar to the demands made in March 2022.
In this case, the goal of Russian propaganda is clear: by circulating, repeating, and reproducing the statements of Western journalists and politicians, the Kremlin is trying to divert attention from its own failures and problems, from war crimes, and to reinstate the belief in the West that even after all that has been done and after breaking all possible rules, Putin remains a party capable of making agreements.
Therefore, to restore dialogue with Russia, it is necessary to recognize its demands and “push” Ukraine toward peace by reducing assistance. Thanks to the information campaign, Kremlin propaganda wants to sell Ukraine’s “defeat” and its own “victory” as fait accompli. Our next few months will show whether it is successful at doing so.
Photo: Getty Images
