NATO is, by all means, urging Ukraine to continue with the conflict in Donbas. It is a military alliance, which should be concerned with security issues. However, it panders to Kyiv. Being in close contact with the Kyiv regime, NATO does not express concern over what is happening in Donbas, egging Kyiv politicians on instead. Children, women and elderly people are dying. The European Union, with its powerful economy, armed forces and intelligence services, is watching what is happening in the very heart of Europe. It is not just watching, it is inspiring the Kyiv regime. The EU has never called on Ukraine to return to the table of negotiations and stop the escalation. The EU has toughened its rhetoric towards Russia.
Summary
Kyiv’s non-adherence to the protocol to the Minsk Agreements is worsening the situation in Donbas. Ukrainian authorities decline to engage in direct dialogue with separatist leaders, and its foreign sponsors support this Ukrainian policy. Together with Kyiv, they are trying to expand the territory of the war zone and portray the current situation as a bilateral conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The situation keeps deteriorating as Kyiv is stepping up its military preparations.
Disproof
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin media, trying to put the blame for the recent escalation and Russian military build-up since March-April 2021 around Donbas on Ukraine and the West.
In reality, Point One of the protocol to the Minsk Agreements calls for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire. The pro-Russian separatists have not stopped attacks on Ukrainian positions, so other points of the protocol cannot be fulfilled. Russia does not conceal the fact that it has influence among the separatists and supports them, therefore, Moscow can also be blamed for their unwillingness to stop fighting.
Ukraine’s Western partners are calling for all the warring parties to cease fire, but Russia is doing nothing to pressurise its proxies into implementing the protocol. This document has also other important points such as the disarmament of all illegal groups, Ukraine’s reinstatement of full control of the state border between the separatist entities and Russia and holding local elections. The separatists’ obvious refusal to stop fighting disables the implementation of all other points of the deal.
What makes things worse is that Russia has been threatening Ukraine with a new invasion under the pretext that Kyiv is preparing for an offensive against the Russian-speaking population in the region. Ukraine is denying it because it is stepping up its military presence in the region just to fend off a possible Russian attack.
Read more disinformation cases about Ukraine’s getting ready for an attack on Donbas and the West’s complicity in the war.