Boris Johnson Demolishes Kremlin Narrative That He Derailed the 2022 Ukraine Peace Deal

Former PM Denies Sabotaging Peace Talks

According to ХВИЛЯ: Boris Johnson has pushed back against Moscow's assertion that his visit to Kyiv in April 2022 derailed a negotiated settlement that had been taking shape through the Istanbul talks. Speaking on the American podcast School of War, he called that account "absolute dogshit." At the time, Johnson was Britain's prime minister, and the claim has since become a fixture of Russian state media. He stressed that his trip had been approved by the UK government and Parliament, and that the draft agreement published by Germany's Die Welt was never ready to sign. Russia, he said, was still demanding Ukrainian neutrality and a smaller Ukrainian army.

The Broader Dispute Over International Influence on the War

For four years, the Kremlin has insisted that Johnson's visit eliminated any possibility of peace talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin personally pushed this interpretation, citing remarks by Ukrainian politician David Arakhamia about London's role. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly dismissed the same claim. Johnson argued that the actual reason the talks collapsed was that Putin never once said he wanted to end the war; the Russian leader gave up occupied land only when the Ukrainian military forced him out.

"The Kremlin keeps saying that my April trip to Kyiv buried the peace negotiations. That is complete, absolute dogshit. There was no leader in Europe or in the whole West who could have made Ukrainians stop fighting for their country," Johnson said.

His comments underscore the ongoing arguments over what role international players had in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. They also illustrate how propaganda can shape public perceptions of the war in Ukraine. Despite Moscow's attempts to blame Western nations for the failure of diplomacy, what remains central is Ukraine's continued determination to uphold its independence and territorial integrity.