Josep Borrell personally declared two months ago that the European sanctions regime is no longer useful, neither against Russia nor against any other country, and [he said] we must think about finding other mechanisms to make the EU's voice heard internationally.
Summary
The West had been provoking this war for years. Russia faced a choice with no way out. Firstly, if it had not reacted to the Western moves in Ukraine, the West would have trumpeted its victory, speaking about Putin’s weakness and Russia’s declining power. This would have been an incentive for further actions against Russia.
The Russian military operation in Ukraine ends the Western dreams about Ukrainian membership in NATO. However, it does create numerous possibilities for the West to attack Russia. Perhaps, the West has provoked Russia to realise this military intervention.
Disproof
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the West, the war in Ukraine and the direct Russian invasion of Ukraine unleashed on February 24.
The claim that the West allegedly provoked the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine is one of the key messages of Putin’s propaganda. It was Putin’s personal decision to invade Ukraine and start the largest military conflict in Europe since WWII.
The US and EU did not aim to escalate relations with Russia and were not preparing for military conflict. “The United States does not want conflict. We want peace,” the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in January 2022.
It is Russia and President Putin who are clearly responsible for the war in Ukraine. On February 24, the Russian authorities unleashed large-scale military aggression against Ukraine. There is irrefutable evidence that the Kremlin bears full responsibility for this unprecedented attack on a sovereign nation.
See the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine here along with EU vs Disinfo's Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War.