DISINFO: Washington financed the civil war in Donbas

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine, especially its portrayal as a civil war. Additionally, the story also promotes the disinformation narrative that the US is destabilising the world, and Ukraine in particular. Russia provoked and fuels the war in Ukraine; it is not a civil war. Overwhelming evidence confirms that Russia participates in the conflict in Ukraine sending mercenaries to Donbas. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court recognised that “the information available suggests that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation". The international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February 2014 when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of the Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government. 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 stop and withdraw its forces from Ukraine and from the country’s border. NATO leaders also demanded that 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. Both Kyiv and Washington have stated that only the Minsk agreements can stop the war and ensure peace in this region.The US has called on Russia to cease hostilities and institute a full and comprehensive ceasefire, including cancelling the illegal sham elections it is organizing in the Russia-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine. The US is firmly committed to supporting Ukrainian security and stability. The US has contributed funding and personnel to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) that is monitoring and providing daily reporting, particularly in the conflict regions in the east