Once again, Vladimir Putin has stepped onto the world stage, arms theatrically outstretched, offering "peace talks" with Ukraine and a so-called ceasefire while they take place. To the untrained eye – or the easily fooled – it might seem a noble gesture, a war-weary statesman calling for diplomacy. But for anyone with a memory longer than a TikTok, it’s textbook Kremlin theatre – a pantomime act so predictable it deserves its own matinee slot at the Bolshoi.
Let’s be clear: this is not about peace. It’s about narrative. It always has been.
Since 2014, Russia has used the same manoeuvre on repeat: make a grand gesture toward peace, ensure the terms are vague or insidious, then either violate the ceasefire themselves or sit back while Ukraine quite reasonably refuses. Then boom – "We tried, they refused, we had no choice but to liberate them harder."
The 2014 Crimea farce? Promised no annexation, then gobbled it up under the muzzle of a Kalashnikov. The 2015 Minsk Agreement? Signed with a smile and then shredded like evidence at an oligarch’s tax audit. The 2022 Istanbul talks? Another bait-and-switch – "neutrality" and territorial concessions were the poisoned bait dangling on the hook. Each time, the international community watches the curtain rise on the same old opera: the Kremlin sings peace, but the artillery keeps the rhythm.
And now, in May 2025, Putin does it again – proposing talks in Istanbul, without preconditions, while missiles still fall and Ukrainian towns still burn. It’s like offering to stop punching someone in the face as long as they agree not to flinch. The cynicism is breathtaking, but entirely on brand.
This time, however, Zelenskyy should call the bluff. Accept the invitation. Step onto the stage. Don’t concede – just turn up and sit at the table. Offer real-time verification, insist on international observers, and make it clear that peace cannot be negotiated at gunpoint. Because if Putin is serious, he’ll talk. But if, as expected, he wriggles, stalls or tacks on conditions, the world will finally see the pantomime for what it is. The strings, the shadow, the curtain – all laid bare.
It’s a trap, yes – but one that can be turned inside out. Agreeing to talks doesn’t mean surrender. It means forcing the spotlight onto the liar who wrote the script and is now trying to pretend he’s the hero of his own tragedy.
Let’s not pretend this is diplomacy. It’s diplomancy – conjuring illusions to manipulate opinion, especially in the Global South or among wavering Western electorates weary of war and gas bills. It’s designed not to bring peace but to make Ukraine look unreasonable, to erode support, and to plant doubt: “Why won’t they talk? Is Zelenskyy the problem now?”
But Ukraine has played this game too many times. They know the rules: if they talk without guarantees, they legitimise Russian occupation. If they agree to a ceasefire without real enforcement, they hand Russia time to regroup and reload. And if they refuse, they become the fall guy in Putin’s propaganda playbook.
So let’s drop the pretence. This isn’t a peace proposal. It’s a PR strategy – a cheap trick to change the headlines, muddy the waters, and stall the West’s resolve. And anyone falling for it is not a peace advocate – they’re an unwitting extra in Putin’s tragicomic pantomime.
The real path to peace isn’t through another Kremlin stage show. It’s through strength, resolve, and remembering that the man offering the handshake has a knife in the other hand – and a long record of using it.
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