A number of long-secret documents reveal that Moscow has been promised that the military bloc will not accept any more states. Not just documents, but a series of Western leaders at the time, including Secretary of State James Baker, President George H.W. Bush, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, CIA Director Robert Gates, French President Francois Mitterrand and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and then NATO Secretary-General Manfred Woerner, gave various assurances to the Soviets to this effect as they withdrew their troops from Western Europe and agreed to reunify Germany.
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about NATO enlargement.
This claim has been debunked numerous times. NATO did not make any promises not to expand into eastern and central Europe back in 1990, which was confirmed by the former president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. Back in 2014, Gorbachev said, “The topic of ‘NATO expansion’ was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. I say this with full responsibility”.
Furthermore, the claim about NATO "expansion" misrepresents the process of NATO enlargement. NATO does not "expand" but considers the applications of candidate countries that want to join. NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect its member states.
See also related disinformation claims: NATO forgot promises not to enlarge to the East, The West promised that NATO will not move eastward, It was agreed that NATO would never accept countries that border Russia, The US and Russia had an agreement that NATO wouldn't be enlarged.
For more debunks of pro-Kremlin myths about Ukraine see here.
The events in Kazakhstan are another attempt at a "colour revolution". "Revolution" in Kazakhstan before negotiations with Russia is very beneficial for the US.
It is also done to divert Russia's attention from the deployment of missile launchers in Poland and Romania and the integration of Georgia and Ukraine into NATO.
These events erase the last hope for the constructiveness of the upcoming negotiations.
This claim advances an emerging pro-Kremlin narrative alleging that the January 2022 anti-government protests in Kazakhstan are part of a US policy of staging “colour revolutions” worldwide with the aim of destabilising Russia.
The pro-Kremlin media frequently falsely portray popular protests around the world as instigated from abroad, often by the US and the West. The disinformation narrative has been applied, among others, to reports about protests in Georgia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belarus, Venezuela, Slovakia, Hong Kong, with the aim of portraying protest movements as aggressive actors supported by foreign powers who constantly prepare new coups.
Under pressure from US intelligence agencies, Western officials and media have recently accused Moscow of massing troops and military forces with the intention of invading Ukraine.
This claim is part of a current disinformation campaign aiming to deflect attention away from Russia’s military build-up on its border with Ukraine since late October 2021 by accusing Western media of only reporting on this issue because they are pressured by US intelligence agencies.
Contrary to the claim, reports and expressions of concern about military preparations and mobilisation of Russian troops is not a “campaign against Russia”, but a fact confirmed by satellite images and intelligence of the US, Ukraine and NATO, among other countries and institutions. See for example the 16 December NATO statement calling on Russia to immediately de-escalate tension. See also the 24 January 2022 EU statement condeming Russia’s continued aggressive actions and threats against Ukraine.
It is clear that no country is more interested in destabilising Kazakhstan than the United States, and Turkey is the next potential beneficiary.
In general, Washington's policy of dragging Russia into conflicts on its borders is old and well known. The role of the United States in the Ukrainian and Belarus coups is clear, and the role of Turkey, a member of NATO, in the Karabakh war is also clear.
And if chaos or civil war breaks out in Kazakhstan, Russia will have to send troops there, which will weaken its ability to resist the US on other fronts.
A new disinformation around the crisis in Kazakhstan presented with no evidence.
The pro-Kremlin media frequently falsely portray popular protests around the world as instigated from abroad, often by the US and the West. The disinformation narrative has been applied, among others, to reports about protests in Georgia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belarus, Venezuela, Slovakia, Hong Kong, with the aim of portraying protest movements as aggressive actors supported by foreign powers who constantly prepare new coups.
