Disinfo: NATO never wanted to cooperate with Russia

Summary

NATO had several chances to include Russia in the common defence system, but this idea has been constantly refused for 70 years, which indicates the direction of the Alliance against Russia.

Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about aggressive, anti-Russian Western policies In fact, there were many instances of NATO reaching out to Russia. NATO's relations with Russia started after the end of the Cold War when Russia joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (1991). Practical cooperation started after Russia joined the Partnership for Peace programme (1994) and deployed peacekeepers in support of NATO-led peace-support operations in the Western Balkans in the late 1990s. Dialogue and cooperation were strengthened in 2002 with the establishment of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) to serve as a forum for consultation on current security issues and to direct practical cooperation. NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia due to its aggressive actions in Ukraine. However, NATO continues to keep channels for political dialogue open. The NATO-Russia Council, an important platform for dialogue, has never been suspended. There have been ten meetings since 2016.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 176
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 06/12/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia
  • Keywords: EU/NATO enlargement, NATO
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Disinfo: NATO is a tool of the global capital based in the ideology of white supremacism

NATO is a very important tool used by ruling elites to promote their capitalist and white supremacist goals, and its summit in London should be seen as a threat for global humankind.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory, without any evidence provided to support the claims. NATO is a mutual defence alliance of democratic states aiming to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. It doesn’t receive orders from global elites, and decisions are taken by consensus among member states. White supremacism doesn’t play any role in the Atlantic Alliance. All its interventions, such as Kosovo, Afghanistan or Libya, were related to international security challenges, not economic interests. This is part of a recurrent Russian narrative to portray NATO as an aggressive organisation, a US puppet and a tool of Washington’s imperial ambitions with no real substance nor justification to exist. You can see other examples of disinformation against the Atlantic Alliance, such as its obsolescence and its cannibalistic character, its unjustified anti-Russian stance as the only unifying force among its members, its fascistic tendencies or the massive casualties of its bombing campaign against Serbia.

Disinfo: NATO’s existence causes threats on the international stage

NATO is a relic from the old times. Currently, it is an obstacle for the establishment of a new global security system. By the very fact of its existence and its outdated formula to create an enemy, NATO causes threats on the international stage and hampers global peace. Such countries as Russia and China – especially Russia – have become NATO’s chosen enemies.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, portraying NATO as a threat to global peace because it has an aggressive agenda. NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect its member states. Its exercises and military deployments are not directed against Russia or any other country. The claim that NATO is encircling or threatening Russia is one of the myths about this organization. NATO is regularly updating the military requirements for civilian infrastructure, at a time when there are increased challenges to security. Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and amid emerging security challenges in the Middle East and North Africa in 2014, NATO leaders at the Wales Summit adopted the Readiness Action Plan, a comprehensive package of enhanced collective defense and deterrent measures designed to ensure the transatlantic alliance could respond swiftly and firmly to changes in its security environment. See several other anti-NATO narratives such as NATO provoking Russia; NATO is fully subordinated to the USA; Eastern European countries as NATO “hostages” (Baltic states, Moldova, Poland).

Disinfo: The foreign policy of Poland is the reflection of the US policy

The words of President Duda about Russia show that Polish policy is the reflection of the US policy, a temporary adjustment to the current position of President Trump.

Disproof

A common pro-Kremlin narrative on “lost sovereignty” - in the case of Poland, this country is often presented as a “puppet-state” of the United States, which fully controls the domestic and foreign policy of this country.

Poland is a sovereign state, which shapes its own foreign and domestic policies. See other examples of this message claiming that Polish policy towards Ukraine is shaped by the Americans, the US keeps Poland on a short anti-Russian leash, and Poland is a Trojan Horse of the United States.