A Russian official has resurrected a thoroughly debunked narrative about the collapse of early peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, alleging that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scuttled a draft agreement in exchange for a £1 million (€1.17 million) donation from a military drone manufacturer.
Kremlin envoy Kirill Dimitriev posted on X on 21 July, claiming that Johnson had “sabotaged” the failed peace talks that took place in Istanbul in March 2022. “Just a kind reminder that Boris Johnson sabotaged the ready-to-be-signed Russia-Ukraine peace deal after he received a £1 million donation from a military drone manufacturer,” he wrote.
Dimitriev’s post was a response to Johnson’s own X post, in which the former prime minister accused the UK’s new foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, of having opened the door to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine through earlier diplomatic decisions made when he led the Labour Party.
The Facts Behind the Allegation
The “drone manufacturer” Dimitriev likely refers to is Christopher Harborne, a British businessman, political donor, and investor who holds shares in a company that reportedly supplies military equipment to Ukraine. In November 2022, two months after Johnson left office, Harborne donated £1 million to the former prime minister. Leaked files later revealed that Harborne accompanied Johnson on a visit to Ukraine in September 2023, meeting with top officials, as detailed by The Guardian in an article published on 10 October 2025.
The Guardian’s piece focused on transparency issues surrounding the donation and the trip but drew no clear-cut conclusions linking the payment to the collapse of the Istanbul talks. Yet, on 12 October 2025, the Russian state-owned news agency TASS published an article titled “Boris Johnson may have encouraged the prolongation of the conflict in Ukraine for money,” citing The Guardian. Another article by Russian state broadcaster Channel One on 13 October carried the headline: “The Guardian claims Boris Johnson received money to disrupt talks between Moscow and Kyiv.”
In reality, The Guardian did not mention the failed talks or the word “bribe” — both of which featured prominently in Channel One’s headline. The Russian state media outlets have thus distorted the original reporting to fit a pre-existing propaganda narrative.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has explicitly dismissed claims that Johnson sought to derail the Istanbul talks by pressuring him to walk away. In an interview with The Guardian in February 2025, Zelenskyy called the allegations “illogical.” “There were several approaches with ultimatums, and I never gave my approval for it,” he said. “It doesn’t fit with logic; what was he [Johnson] supposed to be talking us out of?”
Johnson himself has dismissed the claims as “Russian propaganda.” He made multiple trips to Ukraine both while in office and after stepping down as prime minister.
This is not the first time Moscow has weaponised unsubstantiated claims to shift blame for the failure of diplomacy. The Kremlin has consistently sought to portray Ukraine as unwilling to negotiate, despite ample evidence that Russia’s own maximalist demands — including recognition of annexed territories and a ban on NATO membership — made a deal impossible. For more on Russia’s disinformation tactics, see our fact check on a fake Euronews video targeting Zelenskyy’s family.
The renewed allegation also comes amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West. As Latvian PM warns of intensified hybrid warfare, such narratives serve to undermine Western unity and support for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has warned the US against further arms sales to Ukraine, signalling Moscow’s continued opposition to any military assistance for Kyiv.
In sum, the claim that Boris Johnson sabotaged the Istanbul peace deal for a bribe is a recycled piece of disinformation, unsupported by evidence and contradicted by key Ukrainian and British officials. European readers should treat it with the scepticism it deserves.
