Russia and Ukraine held US-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November. Even before they began, Russia's disinformation machine tried to influence the negotiations. The Kremlin portrayed Europe as an obstacle to peace, pressed for it to be kept away from the negotiating table, and presented its own demands as non-negotiable.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that only Russia, Ukraine and the US should sit at the table as mediators. He called the stance of European governments provocative and aimed at prolonging the war. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said European states had no business at the negotiating table. Senator Alexei Pushkov claimed that Europe's heads of state and government were doing nothing to make negotiations possible, but the opposite.

Moscow's aim is to weaken the positions of Ukraine and Europe and extract as many concessions as possible. This fits its negotiating strategy: Russia has repeatedly rejected peace and ceasefire proposals or attached additional conditions to them.

Key points:

• On 10 and 11 November, Russia and Ukraine held US-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
• Before the meeting, the Kremlin had said it was in fact ready for talks.
• Its FIMI machinery (foreign information manipulation and interference) was running at full tilt ahead of the negotiations in order to influence the talks.

Source: StopFake (en) (English)