5 lies Europe tells itself about Russia’s criminal war

Editor's note: This opinion first appeared in German in Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Russia’s President — a wanted war criminal — Vladimir Putin failed to show up in Istanbul for the “direct talks” with Ukraine that he himself proposed. For the Kremlin to wage an unprovoked war of conquest, reject a ceasefire, and call it a peace effort is nothing new. Russia lies.

In 2022, building up troops at the Ukrainian border, the Kremlin told us it had no intentions of invading. Russia lied.

Eleven years ago, Putin claimed that the unmarked troops seizing administrative buildings in Ukrainian Crimea weren't his. Russia lied.

Ninety years ago, Moscow starved millions of Ukrainians in an effort to break a nation’s will to live free. What the world knows as the Holodomor — and what 35 countries have recognized as genocide — Russia denies.

Russia lies all the time.

Much ink has already been spilled over the Istanbul talks, the Kremlin’s venal theatrics, and Washington’s mixed signals. But the fundamentals remain unchanged. No one longs for peace more than Ukraine — it accepted an unconditional ceasefire in March. Russia did not. It still refuses to stop killing Ukrainians for the crime of being Ukrainian.

Moscow frames its war of aggression as a neighborly dispute that spiraled out of control — a cynical and callous lie. But many nations entertain the claim, absolving themselves of the responsibility to help Ukraine expel the invaders.

With an economy ten times the size of Russia’s and three times the population, Europe pretends it has done all it could — sanctions, aid, thoughts, and prayers. But half-measures, laced with appeasement, have predictably failed to quench Moscow’s appetite for war. When Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, it marked the collapse of the post-Cold War order. Europe flinched. A well-known serial killer isn’t just knocking on the door — he’s already inside the house.

To call out Russia’s lies is no longer enough. Europe must confront — and discard — five lethal delusions of its own.

First, our fear of escalation fuels Russian aggression.

The response to 2008 wasn’t ignorance — it was fear. Instead of pacifying Moscow, our self-restraint emboldened it. Paralyzed by the belief that confronting Russia was too risky, Europe missed the memo: not confronting it was and remains the most dangerous option of all.

Members of the Russian patriotic youth movement Yunarmiya attend a concert marking the first anniversary of the annexation of four partly occupied Ukrainian regions—Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia—at Red Square in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 29, 2023. (Alexander Nemenov / AFP via Getty Images)

An aerial view shows the city of Bakhmut, totally destroyed by heavy battles, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on Sept. 27, 2023. (Libkos / Getty Images)

The world changed forever when Moscow rattled its nukes — and the West responded not with resolve, but retreat. Timothy Snyder said it best: "By taking nuclear blackmail seriously, we have actually increased the overall chances of nuclear war. If nuclear blackmail enables a Russian victory, the consequences will be incalculably awful." The risk of a nuclear strike is never zero — but if Russia walks away with anything resembling a victory, the collapse of the non-proliferation regime is all but assured.

Europe agonizes over whether transferring $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine might set a dangerous precedent. But the flipside is worse: doing nothing signals that a pariah state can wage a war of annihilation — and keep the profits. After WWII, German assets helped rebuild what Hitler destroyed. What’s different now? The Kremlin chose to launch a criminal war and thus forfeited any claim to be treated as a respectable sovereign actor. Making Russia pay is the only fair outcome.

Finally, Ukraine is a security provider for Europe, not a security burden.
By resisting the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has severely degraded Moscow's military capabilities. It chose to stand and fight rather than surrender — a gift the Free World has yet to fully appreciate. Ukraine’s valour is Europe’s shield. A NATO-integrated Ukraine isn’t a liability — it’s what a credible and effective deterrent looks like.

Ukrainian Marine Corps soldiers transfer personnel to a British Mastiff infantry fighting vehicle on the Kurakhove frontline, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on Dec. 28, 2024. (Kostiantyn Liberov / Libkos / Getty Images)

Our wishes notwithstanding, Istanbul was no turning point, but yet another chapter in a centuries-long pattern of deceit driven by Moscow’s imperial ambition. Russia’s own former foreign minister, Andrei Kozyrev, put it plainly: by appointing Vladimir Medinsky — a fringe propagandist loathed even in Russia — to lead the talks, Putin signaled open contempt for diplomacy and for Washington in particular. This wasn’t negotiation — it was provocation in a cheap suit.

The Free World, and Europe in particular, has the means, the direct strategic interest, and — if it finds the will — the moral responsibility to help Ukraine restore its sovereignty. Not just to punish aggression, but to break the cycle of appeasement that brought us here. Victory for Ukraine is not a gift. It is the price of peace in Europe — and the best guarantee that your children won’t be drafted in the coming months or years to defend what remains of it.