As part of the program Regional Initiative for combating disinformation “Western Balkans Combatting disinformation Center: Exposing malicious influences through fact-checking and Analytical Journalism“, we present you a new analysis of fake news and disinformation narratives.
Moscow–Kyiv negotiations set to fail – UK sends “special agent” to Turkey to block the deal – Just like Boris Johnson once did
https://informer.rs/planeta/vesti/1022085/turska-pregovori-rusija-ukrajina-velika-britanija
In recent months, diplomatic efforts to establish a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia have intensified. The United States has increased its contacts with Moscow and stepped up its mediation between the two warring sides, presenting several memorandums and proposals for a ceasefire and a potential broader peace settlement.
However, the involvement of the Trump administration in so-called shuttle diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine has not yielded any significant breakthroughs, nor has it brought the largest war on the European continent since World War II any closer to an end. In mid-May, with support from—or at least under pressure by—the United States, the first direct meeting between Ukrainian and Russian delegations since 2022 was held.
On May 15, in Istanbul—the same location where the first and only serious negotiations between Ukraine and Russia took place in March 2022—a meeting was held between the two delegations: Ukraine’s at the ministerial level, and Russia’s led by deputy ministers and presidential advisors. The only tangible outcome was an agreement on what became the largest prisoner exchange to date.
Two weeks later, a second meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian sides was held, also in Istanbul. On the eve of this second round of talks, both sides published their own memorandums or negotiation positions regarding the conditions for a ceasefire. An analysis of the documents shows that the two sides’ positions remained virtually unchanged, with the Russian side continuing to insist on maximalist demands that are entirely unacceptable to Kyiv.
Domestic media in Serbia reported intensively on both rounds of negotiations in Istanbul, traditionally promoting pro-Russian narratives. One of the more illustrative examples is an article published by Informer, titled: “Moscow–Kyiv negotiations set to fail – UK sends ‘special agent’ to Turkey to block the deal: Just like Boris Johnson once did,” which contains typical pro-Russian and anti-Western talking points related to the war in Ukraine.
Informer reported that the UK Prime Minister’s national security advisor would be present in Istanbul during the second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, but with a suggestive and unsubstantiated claim in the very headline that “the negotiations will fail… because the British are sending a special agent to prevent an agreement.” A notable part of the article includes the statement: “Powell plans to attend the negotiations and influence the Ukrainian delegation to ensure they remain within the framework set by the West.”
The article further claims that “the British advisor wants to keep the Ukrainian side on a short leash and ensure that Kyiv does not shift its position without the consent of its Western handlers.” In this way, Serbia’s most influential pro-government tabloid once again reinforces one of the most common pro-Russian narrative tropes—that Ukraine is merely a “Western instrument” in the conflict with Russia.
Informer also revisits the controversy surrounding the Ukrainian–Russian talks held in Istanbul in 2022 and the alleged role of then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in preventing a potential deal. The outlet thus repeats a frequent—but highly contested and widely debunked—claim promoted in Russian and pro-Russian circles: “The conflict could have ended in spring 2022… but former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson intervened, derailing the agreement… he traveled to Kyiv and told Zelensky not to sign anything with the Russians,” the article states. However, these claims lack solid evidence. In the meantime, influential studies have been published identifying multiple factors that contributed to the failure of the Istanbul talks in 2022.
As for the second round of direct Ukrainian–Russian negotiations held in Istanbul in 2025, it too brought no significant breakthrough toward ending the conflict. The only tangible outcome was a new agreement on the exchange of prisoners of war and fallen soldiers. Given the entrenched positions of both sides and Moscow’s (unfounded) maximalist demands, the Istanbul talks were, from the outset, effectively doomed to fail.
Author: Igor Mirosavljević
