DISINFO: By provoking Russia, Ukraine fills the role assigned by NATO
SUMMARY
NATO labelled Ukraine as one of its most important partners, something which is true: by provoking Russia and making it react to its security and that of the population of Donbas, Kyiv fulfils perfectly the role assigned to it in justifying the existence and the reinforcement of the Atlantic Alliance under the pretext of the “Russian threat”. It doesn’t make sense to have a military alliance if there is no military target to press against.
RESPONSE
This is a mix of several recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about NATO, Ukraine’s lack of sovereignty and anti-Russian provocative actions. Contrary to the claim, Ukraine’s actions in the east are not a “provocation” aiming to “make Russia react” but legitimate military operations in its internationally recognised territory and a reaction to Russia’s own military moves. Russia is the responsible party for the outbreak of the conflict in 2014, after having illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula and engineered the creation of separatist militias in Donetsk, Luhansk and other places, with its army actively participating in military clashes. While NATO has shown concern for Russia’s military buildup in Ukraine’s borders, the claim that the Atlantic Alliance is pushing for this escalation to justify its existence is baseless.
See other examples in our database, such as claims that the US needs a war to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, that Ukraine is trying to organise a genocide in Crimea, that NATO destroyed Europe’s security, that Russia never participated in the Ukrainian conflict or that Russia poses zero threat to any other country, including Ukraine.
This disinformation message about NATO appeared in the same article as the claim that “The US may be sending Ukraine to a meat grinder in Donbas”.