Sputnik’s lines on NATO

In last week’s Disinformation Digest we described how Sputnik’s line in the eve of the NATO Warsaw was to claim that Western protests against Moscow’s violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity are in fact just a pretext for NATO to strengthen its military presence in Eastern Europe.

When the summit was over, that line was expanded into a broader narrative about NATO as an aggressive organisation and not about peace and stability.

In an article titled “NATO’s Double Standards: Why Warsaw Meeting Became a ‘Summit of Lies'” Sputnik quoted former USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev for saying that “the Warsaw summit’s rhetoric almost shows that the alliance is declaring war against Russia […] They talk about defence, but actually they are preparing for an offensive.”

Gorbachev has also at earlier occasions used strong language against NATO.

Among Sputnik’s similarly saying headlines were the following: NATO Tackling Imaginary Threats Instead of Real Challenges, Russia ‘Has All Reasons’ to Assume NATO Buildup is Directed Against It and Moscow Expects Explanations on NATO’s Reinforcement at NATO-Russia Meeting.