Ukraine’s Peace Talks Must Protect Journalists — or Justice Will Betray Them

December 04, 2025 – Ukraine/Russia – 

As international discussions around a future peace plan for Ukraine accelerate, leading press-freedom organizations are warning that any agreement reached will be incomplete — and morally compromised — unless it includes concrete guarantees for journalist safety and accountability for crimes committed against the press throughout the war. The International Press Institute (IPI) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) released strong statements urging negotiators not to sideline media rights in the pursuit of political compromise.

According to both organizations, Ukraine has endured hundreds of documented violations against journalists since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, including killings, targeted strikes on press vehicles, abductions, torture, disappearances, and deliberate attacks on media infrastructure. Journalists working in frontline regions — Ukrainian and international — have faced extreme risks while documenting war crimes and humanitarian crises. For press-freedom advocates, these crimes represent not only attacks on individuals but assaults on public truth, accountability, and the historical record.

Yet, as diplomatic circles begin shaping the outlines of a potential peace process, early proposals reportedly lack explicit language guaranteeing protection for journalists or mechanisms to investigate past abuses. IPI and EFJ argue that without such provisions, justice for murdered and injured reporters may never materialize, and impunity will become embedded in the postwar landscape. They stress that accountability must not be postponed until after a peace deal but instead be integrated into its foundation.

The organizations are calling for the peace framework to include independent, internationally backed investigations into all attacks on media workers, secure access for journalists to conflict-affected areas, comprehensive rebuilding of media infrastructure, and legal protections ensuring that reporters can operate free from intimidation, political pressure, or retaliation.

Press-freedom advocates warn that failing to include these measures would undermine the credibility of any settlement. For them, a peace plan that ignores the rights of journalists risks consolidating impunity and erasing vital evidence gathered throughout the war. Ensuring justice for those who were killed or harmed while reporting is seen as essential not only for the media community but for Ukrainian society’s right to the truth.

As negotiations advance, the message from global press organizations is clear: without protections for journalists, peace will be fragile — and the truth will remain at risk.

Reference – 

Ukraine: Peace plan must ensure accountability for crimes against journalists

Ukraine: Peace plan must ensure accountability for crimes against journalists