The Istanbul peace talks once offered Ukraine a way out of full-scale war. they did not end the fighting.
Now leaked files about Boris JohnsonS £1m donor and a later Kyiv trip raise new questions about who shaped that outcome, and who profits when a war keeps going.
## Istanbul Peace Talks Offered a Path That Closed
In March and April 2022, Ukrainian and russian delegations met in Belarus and Istanbul. They explored a framework that included Ukrainian neutrality, limits on its armed forces and security guarantees from third countries, in exchange for a Russian pullback to pre-war lines and further talks on disputed regions.Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, who tried to mediate, later said both sides showed more versatility than manny expected. He described a moment when he thought a ceasefire and political deal sat within reach, if leaders accepted compromise.
Davyd Arakhamia, chief of Ukraine’s negotiating team, said Moscow signalled it would end the war if Kyiv accepted neutrality and abandoned its NATO membership goal.He also stressed that trust was low, security guarantees remained vague and any agreement would need constitutional change and a summit between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, which never happened.
Critics of Western policy say these accounts point to a real missed chance. Supporters of Kyiv reply that Russian demands still went beyond what Ukrainian law and public opinion coudl accept.
## Johnson’s Kyiv visit and Western Pressure
While talks continued, Boris Johnson arrived in Kyiv on 9 April 2022 as UK prime minister.He met Zelenskyy and senior officials, and made clear that Britain stood behind Ukraine’s resistance.
Arakhamia later claimed Johnson urged Ukrainian leaders not to sign anything with Russia and to keep fighting, saying Western governments would back them with money and weapons instead. That remark fits with Johnson’s broader public message that putin must not win and that any deal with the Kremlin would be risky.
Johnson rejects the idea that he “sabotaged” peace. Zelenskyy, for his part, says Russian terms at the time breached Ukraine’s constitution and citizens’ rights, and that he would not accept ultimatums presented under military pressure.What is clear is that, after the Istanbul round and Johnson’s visit, the war moved back to the battlefield. Front lines shifted. The chance for an early settlement faded.
## Harborne, Qinetiq and a £1m Question
More than a year later, Johnson’s relationship with a major political donor added another layer to the story.
In November 2022, he recorded a £1m payment from businessman Christopher Harborne to a private company he set up after leaving office. It was one of the largest donations ever declared by a sitting MP. Harborne’s holdings include airlines, crypto ventures and, crucially, a large stake in QinetiQ, a British defense contractor whose robots and drones support Ukrainian forces.
In September 2023, leaked files show Johnson travelled again to Kyiv, this time as a private citizen.Harborne joined him on that two-day trip. The pair attended the Yalta European Strategy forum and met Ukrainian political and security figures. Conference organisers listed Harborne as “adviser, Office of Boris Johnson.”
The leaks do not show what they discussed in private. They do show a former prime minister,now a strong public advocate for Ukraine’s war effort,arriving in Kyiv wit