Disinfo: NATO planned to turn Crimea into its military base

Summary

NATO admitted that it intended to turn the annexed Crimea into its huge naval base. The North Atlantic Alliance chatted about how the future of the peninsula would have developed if Crimea had not become part of Russia.

Disproof

The mythical encroachments of NATO countries on the Ukrainian peninsula are the most common narrative from Russian media. The Kremlin justifies the annexation of the peninsula with these “facts about the evil NATO”. Although NATO has repeatedly emphasised that the North Atlantic Alliance did not have any views on the ports of Crimea before it was annexed. Speaking at the Centre for Strategic Studies at Queen Victoria University in New Zealand on August 5, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg did address the Crimean issue. However, Stoltenberg spoke of Crimea not in the context of the "NATO plans for militarising" the peninsula, but as one of the main modern threats to the world order that developed after the end of World War II. According to the NATO Secretary-General, at the moment, there is an increase in the Russian presence in the world due to the increasing competition of states. Stoltenberg emphasised that one of the main goals of the Kremlin is to undermine confidence in democratic institutions in NATO member countries. Therefore, Moscow annexed Crimea and withdrew from the INF Treaty.

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publication/media

tsargrad.tv (Archived)
utro.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 160
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 06/08/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Crimea, NATO
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Disinfo: USA is the gravedigger of the INF Treaty

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Aug 05, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative claiming that the US is entirely responsible for the demise of the INF treaty. Since 2014, the US has been trying to resolve the issue and has pressed Russia to return to the compliance with its obligations under the INF Treaty. However, it faced continuous attempts to mislead and denials. Finally, in August 2019, the North Atlantic Council stated that the United States has withdrawn from the INF Treaty as a result of the continuous Russian violations. This decision is fully supported by NATO's allies. Similar cases claiming that there is no evidence that Russia violated the INF Treaty and that Washington is fully responsible for its termination can be found here and here respectively.

Disinfo: US destroyed INF treaty thus threatening global security

The US became the grave digger of the INF Treaty. The US’s decision leads to negative developments in the whole architecture of global security and strategic stability. // Russia made every effort to preserve the INF Treaty and to bring the Americans into a constructive conversation.

Aug 05, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the INF Treaty. Russia bears primary responsibility for the end of the INF Treaty, because it has produced, tested and deployed the 9M729 missile, which violates the agreement. In July 2014, the then-US President Obama officially accused Russia of testing a missile in violation of the INF Treaty, which prohibits the US or Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of between 500 and 5500 kilometres. In a joint statement released after the meeting held at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 December 2018, NATO Foreign Ministers stated that the United States has remained in full compliance with its obligations under the INF Treaty since it entered into force and that Russia has developed and fielded a missile system, the 9M729, which violates the INF Treaty and poses significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security." The US and NATO have repeatedly engaged with Russia to preserve the INF treaty. For background on pro-Kremlin myths on the INF Treaty see here.

Disinfo: US is going to use ISIS for guerrilla and subversive activities

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Aug 05, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives that the US and other Western countries are supporting and using jihadist groups to advance geopolitical goals. There is no evidence that the US has supported radical Islamist terrorist groups in Syria. The US-led military campaign in Syria has been fighting ISIS and Islamic terrorists along with the Global Coalition Against Daesh. Background and a similar case can be seen here and here.