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Russian Delegate’s “Napoleon” and “Bismarck” Quotes Spark Fact-Check Fiasco in Istanbul Talks
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![Photo of Liubava Petriv]( "Photo of Liubava Petriv")
During the recent peace negotiations in Istanbul, the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, attempted to explain Russia’s position on ceasefire demands and territorial claims by using a mix of skewed historical analogies and invented quotes attributed to figures like Napoleon Bonaparte and Otto von Bismarck.
Speaking to Russian state TV propagandist Yevgeny Popov, Medinsky claimed that peace negotiations in 2022 were derailed due to “direct Western interference.”
“And we know historical analogies to this interference,” he said, without providing clear parallels.
Medinsky went on to frame the ongoing war and failed peace process exclusively within the context of 300 years of Russian imperial history.
“There were many Russo-Turkish wars,” he said. “One of them, in the 1870s, was sparked by a major conflict in the Balkans. We essentially reached an agreement with Turkey… but then the West intervened. A congress convened in Berlin and decided that the agreements of the Treaty of San Stefano could be ‘improved’… Then came more Balkan wars in 1912–1913, and eventually World War I — a direct consequence of Western interference.”
He argued that the 30-day ceasefire currently proposed by Ukraine, the EU, and the US was “impossible,” adding:
“This has never happened in past military conflicts. The people who are demanding it don’t know history.”
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To support this claim, Medinsky cited a supposed quote from Napoleon:
“As Napoleon said, war and negotiations are conducted simultaneously.”
However, fact-checkers have found no evidence Napoleon ever said this. Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, and the independent Russian outlet Important Stories, highlighted the dubious origins of the statement.
Medinsky continued, drawing comparisons to 20th-century wars:
“Bad examples, but the Vietnam War lasted 15 years, and negotiations were ongoing the whole time. The Korean War — same story, constant negotiations alongside fighting. But most important to us is the Soviet-Finnish War… Stalin proposed a truce to Finland. The British and French incited them: ‘You must not negotiate with the Soviets, no peace deals — fight the Russians to the last Finn.’”
He then compared the current situation in Ukraine to the Great Northern War of the early 18th century, claiming Sweden’s territories at the time included what is now Russia’s Leningrad region — and blaming England and France for allegedly preventing Sweden’s Charles XII from making peace with Peter the Great.
Medinsky also justified Russia’s demands for Ukrainian territory with a widely debunked quote he attributed to German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck:
“He [Bismarck] always said: ‘Never try to deceive the Russians or steal from them, because time will pass, and sooner or later, the Russians always come to reclaim what’s theirs.’ This idea — ‘Russians always come for what’s theirs’ — is a very important historical lesson,” Medinsky claimed.
But as Important Stories notes, no such quote exists in German historical archives. Even the website of the Russian Military Historical Society — an organization Medinsky himself founded and leads — refutes the authenticity of the statement.
Earlier, a foreign correspondent for The Economist shared exclusive insights from a source close to the negotiations. He quoted the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, saying: “We don’t want war, but we’re ready to fight for a year, two, three—however long it takes. We fought Sweden for 21 years. How long are you ready to fight?”
-21d0b63c17f6020e4df75f6c6f9a2f4f.jpg "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
