Blame Games and Claiming Credit

Abstract

Abstract The chapter offers an insight into the blame games and credit-claiming strategies of Russia and Ukraine in the context of the Minsk Peace Process in Donbas (2015–2022) and Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. It focuses on the role of proxies in the blame games and credit-claiming strategies of the parties to peace negotiations. Relying on media discourse analysis, the study shows how the so-called ‘People’s Republics’ in Donbas had been playing a central role in Russia’s blame game against Ukraine and the West in the context of the Minsk Peace Process and creating casus belli for launching a major war against Ukraine. Ukraine, in contrast, had been using blame games and claimed credit to prove Russia’s being a party to the conflict since its outbreak in 2014. Overall, the case under study is illustrative of the challenge of proxies in conflicts, occupation, and peace negotiations.