The UK allegedly called on NATO to admit it stands accountable for the crisis in Ukraine and to recognize the West’s destabilizing actions, the Russian state media writes. This false narrative echoes an obscure British publication with no connection to government sources.
NEWS: The United Kingdom is urging the West to take full responsibility for the crisis in Ukraine. Politicians have built a world where good and peaceful countries in the West are opposed by Russia, which “destroys” and sows chaos. This approach, however, conceals the actions of NATO states, which are dangerous and destabilize the whole world”, the British magazine “Spiked” writes.
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In fact, Russia is not the protagonist and cannot be considered an agent of chaos. On the contrary, everything that is happening in Ukraine and in its vicinity is the result of Western expansionism, an old fear of Moscow. If ever a destructive and destabilizing force was at work here, then it is not the Kremlin, but NATO.
[…] Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the number of Western instructors in Donbas has increased. In this respect, the Ukrainian authorities might be provoked to engage in “military ventures” that would pose a direct threat to Russia’s security.
NARRATIVE: The United Kingdom is calling on NATO to take responsibility for the crisis in Ukraine.
BACKGROUND: In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and provided support to separatist movements in Eastern Ukraine, which triggered a bloody conflict, killing over 13,000 people. Despite the repeated protests of the international community and Western sanctions imposed on Russia, Moscow not only continued to fund mercenaries in Eastern Ukraine, but also took steps to gradually integrate the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk into the Russian Federation. It started with the process of granting Russian citizenship, followed by a decision of president Vladimir Putin to start trade relations with the self-proclaimed republics.
In early November, Russia was accused, for the second time this year, of rallying troops and military equipment outside the Ukrainian border, sparking concern among Ukrainian, US and EU decision-makers.
NATO and the EU have warned Moscow regarding the “serious consequences” that a new military intervention in Ukraine might trigger, after rejecting Russia’s bid to veto Ukraine’s NATO integration. At the end of several-hour closed-door talks in Brussels, the 27 EU heads of state and government moved to impose additional economic sanctions aimed at deterring Russia’s military actions.
In response, the Kremlin claims it has every right to deploy military forces on its territory wherever it sees fit, and the Russian state media promoted fake news about the Kremlin, which Veridica.ro has debunked, according to which Russia was forced into strengthening its military presence on the Ukrainian border in order to defend against a possible NATO aggression.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this narrative is to persuade Russian-speaking readers in Russia and in ex-Soviet states that the crisis in Ukraine is a consequence of the destabilizing actions of NATO member states, thus exonerating Moscow.
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: In fact, the United Kingdom never submitted any such request to NATO member states, asking them to recognize or take responsibility for the crisis in Ukraine. RIA Novosti merely cites a minor British magazine (“Spiked”, which in 2020 was accused of having spread fake news about the Near East, Turkey and NATO), more specifically an article written by Tim Black, a contributor who is known for his anti-Western and pro-Russian commentaries published by the same magazine. For instance, Black wrote that the United Kingdom is Russophobic and criticized the opposition in Russia.
A number of articles written by Tim Black are strikingly similar to the official narratives promoted by Moscow as part of its hybrid war against EU and NATO states. Irrespective of the more or less biased views of the author in question, under no circumstances can this be considered the official position of the United Kingdom, as RIA Novosti falsely claims, a topic dozens of Russian news outlets subsequently picked up on.
The Russian state media resorted to similar manipulation strategies in the past as well. In October, RIA Novosti wrote about European citizens calling for the construction of Nord Stream 3 and 4 as a solution to overcome the current gas crisis, quoting a fine-print note in a study conducted in Germany and published by “Die Zeit”. RIA Novosti extrapolated the opinion of a single reader and presented it as a mainstream idea in Germany and the EU – a fake piece of news Veridica.ro has also disconfirmed.
Regarding the article in “Spiked”, RIA Novosti applies the same method of manipulation, by turning an argument from an article written by a less-known author, into a buzzing headline with the aim of persuading the Russian readership that Moscow’s actions with respect to Ukraine are entirely legitimate. The narrative in question has been promoted on the websites of several pro-Kremlin media institutions. In other words, the UK did not criticize NATO for its policy on Ukraine, but on the contrary, it recently stated it will support Ukraine modernize its naval fleet in the context of growing tensions with Russia.
At the end of the article, RIA Novosti journalists also cite Russia’s Foreign Minister, who referred to another narrative about NATO and the USA, who are reportedly planning an aggression in Donbass. In fact, Russia is the one who invaded and occupied Crimea, supporting separatist militias in Donbass by violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and being declared “an aggressor state” by the Ukrainian Rada. All these actions, however, which the international community has recognized, are not mentioned in the Russian state media, which instead chooses to cite an obscure British journalist’s theory about NATO’s “responsibility”, without substantiating any of the claims.
As Veridica,ro has previously shown, the conflict in Donbass favors neither Kiev, nor the West. Any conflict hampers the area’s economic development, hinders the free trade of goods, capital and workforce, which cannot possibly benefit any of the stakeholders. The West never encouraged the conflict. On the contrary, by imposing sanctions against Russia and creating various negotiations formats, such as the Minsk platform, it tried to come up with a diplomatic and political solution to the conflict. The West seeks to restore peace and lift all the sanctions that are still blocking a number of vistas for cooperation between Western economic operators and those in Russia.
