DISINFO: Russia wants a peaceful solution in Donbas, but the US and the EU want Ukraine to attack
SUMMARY
Russia is committed to a peaceful solution in the Donbas conflict, while the US and the EU want to send Ukraine to the offensive. Kyiv is not taking independent decisions in Donbas, everything depends on the wishes of the US and the EU. The crisis in Ukraine will allow, as Washington wants, to have an influence in Nord Stream 2 and at the same time to shake the US society, which is immersed in domestic political infighting. Pointing to an external enemy, the US hopes to achieve some kind of mobilisation, and it also disciplines Europe, establishing its power over it.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative aiming to blame the West for the recent tensions in Donbas, exempting Russia of any responsibility for its military buildup at the Ukrainian border.
Contrary to the claim, the escalation of tensions was not the result of any US or Western provocation. Around March 2021, Moscow-backed separatists mounted tensions in Donbas for several weeks under the pretext that Ukrainian troops were planning an offensive. Nonetheless, Moscow and its proxies in Donbas kept on accusing Kyiv of continually breaking the truce and preparing for a full-scale attack, and the West of being behind the escalation and of inflaming tensions.
The situation culminated in a massive deployment of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border, accompanied by increasingly bellicose language in key Russian state media. Russia is seen by the international community as responsible for this escalation: on 12 April 2021, the G7 Foreign Ministers and the EU High Representative stated that "these large-scale troop movements, without prior notification, represent threatening and destabilising activities”. On 22 April 2021, Russia started withdrawing its troops from the Ukrainian border. However, this has not stopped clashes in Donbas, and part of the Russian military equipment remains in the region.
The United States sees the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as a Russian geopolitical project intended to divide Europe and weaken European energy security. However, there is no basis to the claim that it seeks to promote further conflict in Ukraine to influence it. This disinformation piece also includes recurrent false narratives about Ukraine and Europe's lack of sovereignty and their submission to the US.
See other examples in our database, such as the claims that by provoking Russia, Ukraine fills the role assigned by NATO, that the US may be sending Ukraine to a meat grinder in Donbas, that Ukraine intends to commit genocide in Donbas, or that by accusing Russia of playing a role in Donbas, Ukraine has renounced the Minsk agreements.