DISINFO: Russia is not a part in the conflict in Donbas
SUMMARY
Ukrainian authorities keep calling Russia the “aggressor”. However, the Russian authorities have repeatedly reminded that Moscow is not a party to the conflict. Russia is part of the Normandy process for the Ukrainian settlement, and also participated in the drafting of the Minsk agreements, which aim to put an end to the conflict in the Donbas.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine, claiming that Russia is not part of the conflict in Donbas, that Russia has nothing to do with the war in eastern Ukraine and that there is a “civil war” in Donbas. The European Union stated in July 2014 that "arms and fighters continue flowing into Ukraine from the Russian Federation". At the NATO Summit in Wales in September 2014, NATO leaders condemned in the strongest terms Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine and demanded Russia to stop and withdraw its forces from Ukraine and from the country’s border. NATO leaders also demanded Russia comply with international law and its international obligations and responsibilities; refrain from aggressive actions against Ukraine; halt the flow of weapons, equipment, people and money across the border to the separatists; and stop fomenting tension along and across the Ukrainian border. In 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted Russia's military presence in Ukraine.