Disinfo: The EU destroyed relations with Russia

Summary

Moscow has no relations with the EU, they were destroyed by Brussels. Europe broke these relations, simply destroying all the mechanisms that had been created for many years, and Russia now has only individual European countries, guided by their national interests, as partners.

The "infrastructure of relations" between Moscow and Brussels has been destroyed by the EU.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attempting to put responsibility for the state of EU-Russian relations on Brussels, alleging that the EU is destroying them and ignoring the reasons behind the sanctions.

The EU has imposed restrictive measures, including sectoral sanctions, as a result of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Russia's destabilising actions in eastern Ukraine. Formats such as regular high-level dialogues remain suspended in the absence of the full implementation of the Minsk agreements by Russia. These events have seriously affected bilateral relations.

The EU has also strongly condemned the assassination attempt using chemical weapons on Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny and sanctioned 6 individuals and 1 entity as a result. There is unequivocal evidence that Navalny was poisoned using a Novichok-type nerve agent.

However, Russia remains a natural partner for the EU and a strategic player combating the regional and global challenges. The EU’s approach to Russia is guided by five principles agreed in 2016 and reaffirmed, most recently, by EU Foreign Ministers in October 2020. On behalf of the European Union, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP), Josep Borrell travelled to Moscow in February 2021 with the intention of pursuing a dialogue on core issues in the relations between the European Union and Russia. The Kremlin answered the European Union’s invitation to dialogue with a shameless attempt to deflect attention from its violations of Russia’s international obligations and own laws. However, the EU will continue to engage with Russia when it is in the interest of the EU.

Read more about the EU-Russia relations here.

See similar disinformation case in our database claiming that Russia-EU relations were destroyed by unilateral decisions of Brussels.

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publication/media

sputnik-georgia.ru (Archived)
sputnik-abkhazia.ru (Archived)
tvalsazrisi.ge (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 238
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 23/03/2021
  • Article language(s) Russian, Georgian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia, EU
  • Keywords: Diplomacy with Russia, Sanctions, Anti-Russian
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Disinfo: Poland and Lithuania are directly supervising the coup in Belarus

Homeowner Svitlana Tsihanouskaya, who sees herself as the winner of last year's presidential election in Belarus, said it is becoming increasingly difficult to carry out a coup in the country.

As [...] reported, the pro-Western opposition in Belarus has been trying to run a revolutionary scenario in the country since last year. The coup plotters are supported by Western countries. Poland and Lithuania are directly supervising the coup.

The reason for this venturous plan was the presidential election. Alexander Lukashenko won it, but both the European Union and the USA refused to recognise the results of the vote.

Mar 22, 2021
Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about Western attempts to organise a coup or colour revolution in Belarus.

The protests in Belarus erupted to contest the results of the presidential election on the 9th of August 2020, which were not monitored by independent experts, and are largely considered fraudulent by both international observers and a big part of the Belarusian society. On 19 August 2020, the European Council called Belarusian elections neither free nor fair.

Disinfo: The West aims to intensify its campaign against the Sputnik V vaccine

The West has been waging for months a campaign against the Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V. A Kremlin source revealed that, according to data of the Russian intelligence services, the US and its allies aim to launch a massive media campaign against the vaccine.

Mar 22, 2021
Disproof

Recurring disinformation narratives about an ongoing campaign of the West to discredit the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and the promotion of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

The claim that the West has financed and promoted campaigns to discredit the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is not supported by factual evidence. Early remarks about Sputnik V was motivated by widespread concerns that the approval was premature, since, at the time, the vaccine had not even started phase III trials, nor had any results on the earlier stage trials been published. The WHO expressed concerns about the preternatural registration of vaccine. After the results of phase I and II trials were published in The Lancet in September 2020, a group of international experts analysed them and expressed concerns about statistical anomalies.

Disinfo: People who refuse the coronavirus vaccine may have to be isolated, Merkel said

The introduction of “Covid passports” which register the tests that you did is a way of making a selection among people. This may also turn vaccination from voluntary to mandatory, and we heard Angela Merkel saying that if some people refuse to get vaccinated maybe it will be necessary to adopt measures or to isolate them socially, which is something very serious.

Mar 22, 2021
Disproof

This is part of a pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign about the Covid-19 and vaccination.

The claim is deliberately misleading. The actual words of Chancellor Angela Merkel were: