At a time when Western commentators are tying themselves in knots trying to parse the ongoing Ukraine peace discussions, the Russian media is suddenly strikingly united in its coverage. There is a common misperception that, like their Soviet forebears, the Russian press simply reproduces some standard party line, day in, day out. In fact, there is often surprising pluralism, with different newspapers having their own interests and angles. However, the Kremlin does impose its will when it comes to especially important or sensitive matters, with editors receiving tyomniki, informal but authoritative guidance from the presidential administration on lines to take and topics to avoid. When the press is speaking in one voice, that voice is Putin’s.

A day of uncertainty followed when news of the proposed 28-point peace plan for Ukraine first dropped. But now, the Russian media is back in lockstep, providing a useful insight into what the Kremlin wants to communicate to both foreigners and its own subjects.

Ukraine, Europe and the US are being warned that Moscow is not desperate for a deal

In the heavyweight government paper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Fyodor Lukyanov, one of the most prominent foreign policy scholars often deployed to put a gloss on the official line,........

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