The Ukrainian president hates Russia and will continue the war, which is why peace would only be possible after his removal, pro-Kremlin media claim.
NEWS: The conflict in Ukraine can only be ended by removing Volodymyr Zelensky's regime, under which Ukraine can only be an enemy of Russia, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov wrote on his Telegram channel.
"No, Zelensky! The only way to end this war is to remove your regime, which was specifically built as an enemy of Russia, as a regime created to wage war against Russia," he wrote. Thus, the politician commented on the Ukrainian leader's statement regarding ways to end the conflict in the country.
NARRATIVES: 1. Peace in Ukraine will only be achieved if the Zelensky regime is overthrown. 2. The Ukrainian authorities are supported by the West in waging a war to destroy Russia.
PURPOSE: To discredit President Zelensky and portray him as the sole obstacle to peace; to legitimize and justify Russia’s aggression; to erode Ukrainian public support for the war effort; to absolve Russia of blame.
REALITY: Russia started the war, not Zelensky, who had actually promised during his election campaign to negotiate with Moscow.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Russian propaganda portraying Zelensky as the only obstacle to peace deliberately distorts reality, ignoring Moscow's responsibility for triggering and escalating the armed conflict. It was Russia that occupied Crimea in 2014, violating international law and its own commitments under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum , which guaranteed Ukraine's territorial integrity. Russia also fueled armed separatism in Donbas by supplying weapons, troops, and money, as acknowledged by UN and OSCE reports. The large-scale invasion of February 2022 turned the regional conflict into a war of aggression against a sovereign state, without Ukraine having provoked Russia militarily.
Zelensky's image as a "man of war" is contradicted by reality. He entered politics promising peace and was voted in overwhelmingly precisely because of this promise. From the very first months of his term, he sought diplomatic solutions, meeting with Vladimir Putin in Paris within the Normandy format, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, to discuss the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. Later, in 2022, in the first weeks after the large-scale invasion, Zelensky sent Ukrainian delegations to direct negotiations with Russia in Belarus and then in Turkey, where a potential truce was discussed. The fact that these talks did not produce results was due to the Kremlin's refusal to give up its ultimate goal—the subordination or even disappearance of the Ukrainian state.
In 2025, Ukraine's willingness to implement peaceful solutions was once again evident when Kyiv unilaterally accepted a 30-day, unconditional ceasefire in the hope of reducing the loss of human lives. However, Moscow rejected the proposal and imposed conditions equivalent to surrender: the cessation of mobilization and Western military support. That same year, Zelensky publicly stated that he was ready to meet Putin in person in Istanbul to negotiate a cessation of hostilities, but the Kremlin refused. These episodes show that Ukraine has repeatedly signaled its openness to a ceasefire, while Russia has blocked any dialogue.
The narrative repeated by the Russian media, according to which the West is supporting Ukraine in order to destroy Russia, is also unfounded. Western military and financial aid are aimed solely at defending Ukraine, which is recognized as a sovereign state by the international community. The UN General Assembly has repeatedly condemned the Russian invasion, with the support of more than 140 states, reaffirming Ukraine's right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter . Western leaders, from Washington to Brussels, have repeatedly stated that they are not at war with Russia and that their goal is not to destroy it, but to guarantee a just peace. If support for Ukraine were to cease, the result would not be peace, but a victory for the aggressor, which would set a dangerous precedent globally.
Zelensky is often portrayed by Russian propaganda as a "Russophobe," but reality contradicts this image. He himself comes from a Russian-speaking family and built his career as an actor and comedian playing numerous roles in Russian, being popular even in the Russian media before entering politics. His election as president in 2019 was not based on ethno-linguistic criteria, but on a message of civic unity and reconciliation.
The pro-Kremlin media uses the terms "the conflict in Ukraine" or "the Ukrainian crisis," expressions that dilute Russia's responsibility and create the impression of an internal confrontation. In reality, this is not an internal conflict, but a war of aggression by the Russian Federation against a sovereign state. Terminology is not a minor detail, but a crucial part of the narrative: the use of the term "conflict" serves Moscow to conceal the illegal nature of the invasion and to suggest that Ukraine is responsible for the violence on its territory.
CONTEXT: Nikolai Azarov was Prime Minister of Ukraine between 2010 and 2014 and a close ally of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. After the Euromaidan protests and Yanukovych's flight, Azarov took refuge in Russia, where he received political protection and financial support. In Ukraine, he was officially charged with treason and undermining state security, but the authorities were unable to prosecute him because he is on Russian territory. Since then, he has become a propaganda tool for the Kremlin, constantly promoted in the Russian media as an "expert" or "Ukrainian leader." His statements are used by Moscow to give the appearance of a "Ukrainian voice" critical of Kyiv, even though Azarov no longer has any political legitimacy in Ukraine and is perceived as a fugitive and collaborator of Russia. In his speeches, he repeats Russian propaganda clichés—from accusing the West of orchestrating the Maidan to describing the current leadership in Kyiv as a "puppet regime"—which makes him a convenient vehicle for justifying the Kremlin's aggression.
