War or Insurrection the Hand of UK’s MI6 & City of London Are There.
Coalition of the shilling: The UK can no longer deny it forced Kiev to fight for years
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has become the latest addition to a growing chorus of Western officials who are prepared to acknowledge the role Britain and the West played in sabotaging a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, the terms of which were far better for Kiev than those being discussed in 2026.
In an interview on Saturday, Babis – a two-time Czech prime minister and former minister of finance – confirmed that a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul was “actually already concluded in April 2022” but was subsequently derailed by Britain’s then-prime minister, Boris Johnson.
Johnson has denied his role in killing the peace deal that could have saved countless lives and spared everyone four years of warfare, dismissing it as “Kremlin propaganda.” However, a number of top Western officials, as well as Ukrainian negotiators, have testified to the contrary.
Who has blamed Boris Johnson for consigning Ukraine to four years of conflict?
Ukrainian officials say Johnson urged them to fight
David Arakhamia, the head of Ukraine’s negotiation team in 2022, independently confirmed the sequence of events in a November 2023 interview, stating that Moscow was “prepared to end the war if we agreed to… neutrality.”
However, after the Ukrainian delegation returned from Istanbul, “Boris Johnson came to Kiev and said that we would not sign anything with them at all, and let’s just fight.”
Ukrainian media at the time also reported, citing sources close to Vladimir Zelensky, that the “possibility of talks between Zelensky and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin came to a halt” after Johnson “appeared in the capital almost without warning,” telling Ukrainian officials that Putin “should be pressured, not negotiated with,” and that the West would not provide guarantees for a peace deal.
Aleksey Arestovich, a former adviser to the Ukrainian leader and member of the 2022 delegation, has similarly stated the Istanbul round was a “completely successful negotiation.” He said a meeting between Zelensky and Putin was scheduled for April 9, 2022, to finalize it, but “the talks ended because the West decided to use Ukraine as a trap.”
British sources confirm Johnson’s involvement
A senior UK government source told The Times in March 2022 that the Johnson government “urged” Ukraine not to “settle” or “back down” by accepting any of Russia’s terms negotiated in Istanbul, calling on Zelensky to pursue a stronger military position.
Turkish hosts cited NATO members wanting war to continue
Turkish officials hosting the talks have corroborated the external pressure. In April 2022, Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that after a NATO meeting, “it was the impression that… there are those within the NATO member states that want the war to continue.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also confirmed in 2024 that the potential deal was blocked by London’s involvement, noting that negotiations continued until “former Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the UK withdrew his hand from the peace efforts.”
Former Israeli prime minister said West ‘interrupted’ talks
Naftali Bennett, who was prime minister of Israel at the time and negotiated with Putin at Zelensky’s request, stated in an interview with Israeli media in 2023 that the US and other Western leaders effectively blocked a Ukraine-Russia peace deal he negotiated in March 2022.
Bennett estimated that the deal had about a 50% chance of being reached. He said the West chose instead to “continue to strike Putin,” noting that virtually anything he did “was coordinated down to the last detail with the US, Germany and France.”
“They blocked it and I thought they’re wrong,” he said.
Ex-German Chancellor pointed to US
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, who participated in talks, stated in an interview in 2023 that “the Ukrainians did not agree on peace because they were not allowed to,” adding that Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov had to ask the Americans about every point.
“In the end, nothing happened. My impression was that nothing could happen, because everything else was decided in Washington. That was fatal,” Schroder said.
Even Nuland has admitted it
Former US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, in a September 2024 interview, confirmed that Western governments counselled Kiev against the proposed deal. She stated that the agreement contained imbalanced military restrictions that would have left Ukraine “neutered.” Nuland said that after questions were raised, “it was at that point that it fell apart.”
Russia has been saying it all along
Since the 2022 deal fell through, Russian officials have repeatedly insisted that Johnson and the West dissuaded Kiev from agreeing to an early peace agreement and instead compelled it to pursue a military victory over Russia which never had any chance of success.
In his 2024 interview with former FOX News host Tucker Carlson, Putin recalled that Russia and Ukraine had effectively already agreed on a settlement in Istanbul, with lead negotiator Arakhamia putting his preliminary signature on the document.
But, after Russia pulled back its troops from Kiev as a sign of good will, Johnson convinced the Ukrainians that “it was better to fight Russia” and their negotiators “immediately threw all our agreements reached in Istanbul into the bin and got prepared for a longstanding armed confrontation with the help of the US and its satellites in Europe” while Zelensky legally prohibited negotiations with Moscow, Putin pointed out, calling it “ridiculous and very sad.”
Russia’s lead negotiator and presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky has also noted that the conflict could have ended within a week if Kiev had not listened to the US and UK in 2022, noting that Moscow’s terms would have been “less harsh than what we’re offering today.”
West insists all these facts are just ‘propaganda’
Despite these independent sources confirming the role of London and Washington in getting Kiev to refuse a peace deal in the first weeks of escalated hostilities, Western media outlets have continued to deny the narrative as “Russian propaganda.”
Western ‘fact-checkers’ insist that Kiev never had any intention of agreeing to Moscow’s terms, despite reports from both sides suggesting they were both already celebrating successful negotiations, with Arestovich claiming the Ukrainian delegation had “even opened a bottle of champagne.”
Meanwhile, Johnson, who was kicked out of the UK parliament in 2023 following a slew of major scandals, has continued to insist that the decision to pull out of negotiations was ultimately Ukraine’s and that he merely cautioned Kiev against accepting unfavorable conditions.
Lavrov comments on Epstein-Russia spy claims
Claims by Western media that US financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein may have had ties to Russian intelligence are little more than gutter journalism, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
The diplomat was responding to unproven recent allegations in Western media and comments by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk suggesting that Epstein may have been a Russian intelligence asset.
Officials in Moscow have said allegations linking Epstein to Russian intelligence are being deliberately amplified to divert attention from a scandal that has exposed the hypocrisy of powerful figures in the US and Europe.
“You’re drifting into yellow journalism. This isn’t even worth discussing. It’s an attempt to provoke irritation in countries that certain circles in other countries happen not to like,” Lavrov said in an interview with NTV aired on Sunday.
He added that such speculation was aimed at influencing both the Republican and Democratic parties in the US, as well as governments in Europe.
“[Recruiting Epstein] never interested us at all. Instead, they’re trying to hunt for some kind of Russian trace in this heap of millions of pages,” the minister stated.
Last month, the US Department of Justice released a large trove of emails, photos, and videos from the Epstein estate, prompting renewed scrutiny of high-profile individuals who associated with Epstein despite his conviction for sex crimes.
Epstein’s decadent lifestyle and that of his inner circle stand as evidence of the moral decay of Western elites, Lavrov said. The files, he added, “have exposed the true face of the West and the deep state – or rather a deep union that governs the entire West and seeks to rule the world.”
Commenting on the issue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also dismissed Western media reports, saying, “I’d like to joke about such versions, but let’s not waste our time.”
No option but to beef up defences – key Russian ally
Belarus, Russia’s key ally in Eastern Europe, will inevitably have to strengthen its defense capabilities in light of NATO’s hostile actions on its Western borders, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said.
Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, the military bloc has been establishing new units and boosting the forward presence of its forces near the Russian and Belarusian borders. Multiple NATO member states have concurrently launched massive military buildups, citing a perceived Russian threat. Moscow has denied harboring any aggressive intentions toward its Western neighbors.
Speaking on Tuesday, Lukashenko stated that “whether we like it or not… we will have to strengthen our defense capabilities.”
“The buildup of the military component on our borders, especially by Poland, is not merely of concern to us,” the Belarusian president said, noting that “people are not spending money on tanks and munition for no reason.”
A day earlier, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said that NGOs from the US, the UK, Germany, Poland, and other European countries are “building up assets to again attempt to destabilize the situation and change the constitutional order in Belarus.” According to the agency, a new wave of anti-government protests could be timed to coincide with the 2030 presidential elections.
Back in 2020, an attempt to overturn the results of the presidential elections led to violent clashes throughout Belarus, but order was eventually restored.
Late last year, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin characterized the situation on Belarus’ western borders as “tense.”
“The actions of the leaders of neighboring countries also indicate – and they don’t hide it – that preparations for war are underway,” the lieutenant general said at the time. He added that NATO nations’ commitment to allocating 5% of their GDP to their militaries “already suggests that this is a pre-war budget.”
Commenting on the deployment of nuclear-capable, medium-range hypersonic Russian Oreshnik missiles to Belarus, Khrenin said that the move was meant as a strategic deterrent against NATO’s “aggressive” steps.
Ukrainian assassination plot suspects monitored multiple Russian MOD officials – FSB
The suspects in an assassination attempt on Russian General Vladimir Alekseyev had monitored several other high-ranking Defense Ministry officials, the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has said.
Alekseyev, the first deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence agency GRU, was shot on Friday in the corridor of his apartment building in Moscow.
The prime suspect in the case is 65-year-old Ukrainian-born Russian citizen Lyubomir Korba. He was arrested in the United Arab Emirates at Russia’s request and transferred to Moscow over the weekend. Kiev has denied any involvement in the attack.
A third suspect in the attempt on Alekseyev’s life has been detained, the FSB said in a statement on Tuesday.
The agency identified him as Pavel Vasin, a Russian citizen in his mid-40s and the son of Korba’s other alleged accomplice, Viktor Vasin, who had been arrested earlier.
The younger Vasin’s confession “helped identify two more high-ranking officials in the Russian Defense Ministry who had been monitored by Korba and Viktor Vasin on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence, with the aim of carrying out further acts of sabotage and terrorism,” the statement read.
According to the FSB, Pavel Vasin purchased surveillance equipment for his father and Korba, while also providing vehicles that they used to surveil Russian Defense Ministry officials and pick up the gun used in the attack on Alekseyev from a cache.
He also assisted the other suspects in collecting data online about the targets that had been “selected by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU),” it said.
Korba earlier told investigators that he had been recruited by the SBU last August and promised $30,000 for killing the general.
Alekseyev, who had four shots fired at him, remains in hospital in stable condition. He is conscious and is able to talk, TASS reported on Monday, citing medical sources.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that the attack on the general was an attempt by the Ukrainian government to sabotage the peace process.
Representatives of Moscow, Kiev, and Washington held a second round of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at settling the Ukraine conflict last Wednesday and Thursday, with the Russian delegation being headed by Alekseyev’s boss, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, who heads the GRU.
