The Russian media writes that NATO’s Secretary General has recommended Kyiv to concede a number of territories to Russia in the name of peace. In fact, Stoltenberg hailed Ukraine’s resistance and condemned Russia.
NEWS: “NATO believes peace in Ukraine can be attained if Kyiv is willing to make territorial concessions. The conflict in Ukraine can be settled, but for that Kyiv will probably have to renounce a number of its territories, the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said upon meeting the president of Finland, Sauli Niinistö.
“Peace in Ukraine is possible, but it will come at a cost. It comes down to how much territory, independence, freedom and democracy Ukraine is willing to pay for this peace. It’s a complicated moral predicament”, Stoltenberg said.
According to the NATO Secretary General, only the people of Ukraine can decide how this pace can be attained”, RTVI writes.
“Stoltenberg said that, in the absence of territorial concessions from Ukraine, peace will not be possible, and NATO will help Kyiv pay the smallest cost for this peace”, the Komsomolksaya Pravda daily writes.
NARRATIVE: NATO’s Secretary General suggested Kyiv should concede certain territories to Russia in the name of peace.
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, didn’t say that Ukraine should renounce some of its territories in order to have peace. Upon meeting Finland’s president, Secretary Stoltenberg said that the Ukrainian people are paying the highest price for their freedom, adding that peace can only be attained once Putin decides to end this preposterous war. The NATO Secretary General didn’t recommend Kyiv to hand over some of its territories to Russia in the name of peace. There’s no mention of that in Stoltenberg’s address. His words were taken out of context and deliberately misrepresented in order to mislead the Russian audiences at home that NATO allegedly recognizes Russia’s territorial claims regarding Ukraine as legitimate.
Jens Stoltenberg never said NATO would help Kyiv pay the smallest cost for peace, but said that “NATO would support Ukraine in order to put this country in a stronger position to negotiate”.
The NATO Secretary General did not refer to the moral dilemma of Ukraine regarding territorial concessions, but to the predicament of Ukrainian fighters: “We pay a price because we provide support, we see the economic effects of the economic sanctions. But there is no doubt, […], that the highest price is paid by Ukrainians every day. […] We have to remember, every morning, every day, every hour during the day, there is one man, one nation that is responsible for that – and that is President Putin.”
Stoltenberg never asked Kyiv to hand over territories to Russia, but analyzed the process of negotiation, which hinges on military developments. “So it’s not the question if peace is possible, but what price are you willing to pay for peace? How much territory? How much independence? How much sovereignty? How much freedom? How much democracy are you willing to sacrifice for peace? And that’s a very difficult moral dilemma. And it’s for those who are paying the highest price to make that judgement. Our responsibility is to support them”.
Therefore, Stoltenberg referred to the Ukrainian troops who are fighting Russia in order not to concede territories or lose the sovereignty of their country. Thus, only Kyiv can decide if it wants to stop fighting. In fact, Stoltenberg message is the opposite of what the pro-Kremlin media deliberately misrepresented in order to tell the people in Russia that the Russian army is reporting remarkable progress as part of the “special military operation” and that NATO is gradually starting to recognize the new reality.
Veridica has recently disproved a series of false narratives carried by the Russian media regarding territorial concessions, according to which Ukraine is not rebuilding Kharkiv because it knows it will be annexed by Russia, Kyiv will ceded Zaporizhzhya to Russia, while 95% of Ukrainians are waiting to be liberated by Russia. These propaganda narratives are indicative of Russia adjusting its discourse for a prospective annexation of Ukrainian territories.
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