Russian propaganda spreads information that France has recognized the futility of the attempts of the Ukrainian army to defeat the Russian one, and writes about the “disappointing situation” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine due to heavy losses. Propagandists refer to an article in the French economic publication La Tribune. But this is manipulation.

The article, which belongs to an anonymous group of analysts called Mars, makes no claims about the “disappointing situation of the APU”. The fact-checkers from Insider drew attention to this. The article says whether Ukraine can defeat Russia on the battlefield, liberating only by military means the entire territory of Ukraine up to the borders of 1991. The authors of the French edition are convinced that it is not, because one should take a "realistic" look at this war, offering not only Ukraine, but also guarantees of Russia's security. Ukraine is invited to “guarantee entry into NATO”, but at the same time to abandon the territories that will be a “demilitarized zone under the control of the UN”: we are talking about the Donetsk, Luhansk regions, Crimea and parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. In the future, the authors write, it will be necessary to hold a referendum on the self-determination of these regions, and they will become “independent”, “a buffer zone between NATO and Russia”.

Recently, "security guarantees for Russia" were also offered by French President Emmanuel Macron. There are also some political forces in the EU and the US that are trying to promote the idea of understanding Russia's interests and security guarantees for an aggressor country that no one has attacked. This is presented as “realpolitik” as opposed to “ideal ideas” that cannot be implemented. The same “real politicians” believed that Russia would capture Ukraine in three days. The anonymous French think tank also writes about “an ideal world in which Russia must withdraw troops from Ukrainian territories" and “a reality in which the Russian army cannot lose the war, given the nuclear deterrence force”.

Such articles and statements are used by Russian propaganda to convince the audience that Ukraine will not win the war and that it is losing support in the West. Although the reality is that none of Russia's plans to seize Ukraine came true, and it is Russia that keeps losing the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Ukraine is supported by most European countries, the United States and their partners in the world.