Dr. Daniele Ganser: The Betrayed Peace of Istanbul (Dr. Daniele Ganser, 1.1.24) (english subtitles)

The war in Ukraine, which has cost the lives of more than 200,000 people, could have been ended much earlier. Many people still do not know that six weeks after the Russian invasion on March 29, 2022, in Istanbul, there was a real chance for peace. It is important for the peace movement to know these facts.

Back then, the Ukrainians under President Zelensky and the Russians under President Putin had almost made peace. The core of the peace deal was the neutrality of Ukraine. The Ukrainian delegation presented a position paper on March 29, 2022, leading to the Istanbul Communique. It explicitly stated: 'Ukraine declares itself a neutral state and promises to remain block-free... and not to host any foreign military bases or troop contingents.' In return, the Russians promised to withdraw from all territories captured since February 24, 2022. This would have ended the war after six weeks.

However, this peace was sabotaged by US President Biden and British Prime Minister Johnson. Washington and London wanted Ukraine to continue fighting to weaken Russia. 'In Istanbul, the Russians negotiated with the Ukrainians after the invasion. It was about Ukrainian neutrality,' said US Professor John Mearsheimer. 'It is very clear that the USA, working through Boris Johnson, made it clear to Ukraine that we did not want them to make a deal with the Russians. Because by the end of March 2022, we were confident that we could defeat the Russians in Ukraine. Neutrality for Ukraine was therefore not acceptable to us.'

To break the peace process, on April 9, 2022, the then British Prime Minister Johnson traveled to Kiev and caused the Ukrainian President Zelensky to not sign the peace agreement and break off talks with Russia. According to Mearsheimer,