Unmasking Ukraine: The Hidden Lies Revealed

The parliamentary group leader of the Ukrainian Servant of the People party recently gave a tough and shocking TV interview.

Kijev, 2023. november 4. Volodimir Zelenszkij ukrán elnök az Ursula von der Leyennel, az Európai Bizottság elnökével tartott kijevi sajtóértekezleten 2023. november 4-én, az Ukrajna elleni orosz háború alatt. MTI/EPA/Szerhij Dolzsenko Fotó: Szerhij Dolzsenko

David Arakhamia, the parliamentary faction leader of Ukraine’s ruling Servant of the People party, recently gave a television interview. Based on this, the Hungarian Mandiner news portal summarized why Mr Arakhamia’s statements are extremely condemning in terms of Ukraine’s pro-war rhetoric, as the politician has managed to obliterate almost all the clichés of any pro-Ukrainian, or Ukrainian state communication.

Russia’s draft 2021 treaty to obtain security guarantees from the US and NATO caused a furor. These drafts also included, in the direction of NATO, a ban on NATO member states that joined before 1997 from stationing armaments in member states that joined post-1997, essentially prohibiting any US weapons from being stationed east of Germany. Many clung to this Russian proposal to try and justify why it might have been better to settle the conflict through negotiation rather than war at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022. This view was prevalent not only in the Baltic States and Poland but also had its proponents in Hungary.

Their technique is to put a lot of strong demands on the table, and then back down from a good number of them,

– star economist Jeffrey Sachs, who is constantly facing accusations of being pro-Russian, told the Mandiner news portal.

This was most likely a bargaining chip. I wouldn't have accepted it, but I would have negotiated about it.

 – They have tabled many things, but the major issue within the draft proposal was NATO enlargement. Regarding the other issues, they just wanted to see how far they could go. I watched the Russian negotiations closely, especially thirty years ago when I was served as an advisor to the Russian government, he added.

Magyar Nemzet has also covered what Mr Arakhamia has disclosed, and what the Russians’ demands were.

The belief that the Ukrainians cannot negotiate peace with Russia because of the Bucha massacre still prevails in Ukrainian and Western public opinion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also issued a decree, asserting that negotiations are impossible as long as Vladimir Putin is president. Mr Arakhamia highlighted the pitfalls of this idea in an interview with a French newspaper.

At the end of October, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder proposed an alternative explanation: he suggested that the failure to reach a peace agreement between the Russians and Ukrainians was not due to Bucha, but because the United States had prevented the signing of an agreement already negotiated in Istanbul.  Mr Arakhamia's statement supports Mr Schroder's claim to the last letter. Asked why Ukraine had not signed the peace agreement negotiated in Istanbul, the group leader simply said: 

it was because then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Kyiv and gave the order that 'we will not sign anything with them, we will fight'.

Mr Arakhamia also claimed that Ukraine's big weapon suppliers continue to maintain this position; they’re not negotiating about peace because as soon as their Western supporters got wind of it, they would immediately halt all the arms supplies.

The notion of offering unconditional support to Ukraine is often endorsed by the most prestigious think tanks and institutions in Western Europe and the US. They argue that Ukraine is fighting the war of the free world and striving for democracy. On the first anniversary of the war, former Ukrainian PM Oleksiy Honcharuk stated that the military conflict wasn't a war for territory and resources, nor was it a regional conflict. Instead, he characterized it as a war for freedom and democracy.

However, Mr Arakhamia’s remarks also expose the inconsistency – or lie – in this narrative. The Ukrainian government has banned several political parties, citing the war as a reason, and it has canceled the 2024 elections at all levels. This means that Ukrainians cannot exercise their democratic rights at the parliamentary, presidential, or municipal level. The incumbent officials remain in power without any democratic legitimacy. According to faction leader Mr Arakhamia, the reason Ukraine does not want to hold elections is because "no one is forcing us to do so".

Cover photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: MTI/EPA/Serhij Dolsenko)