DISINFO: Russia-Ukraine confrontation provoked from outside
SUMMARY
Ukrainian politicians’ reaction to Putin’s article about the unity of Russians and Ukrainians is natural because they had been brought up in an anti-Russian ideology. They are puppets. Putin’s words run contrary to what anti-Russian propaganda had taught them. Russian-Ukrainian confrontation is a historic mistake and was provoked from outside.
RESPONSE
A recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets, claiming that the deterioration of Russian-Ukrainian relations over the past years has been triggered by the West. In reality, the West is not set on pitting Russia and Ukraine against each other. Western countries are trying to help reach a peace settlement in Donbas. To this end, agreements were signed in Minsk in 2014 and 2015, and Normandy format talks were launched in 2014.
The resolution of the conflict depends on Russia’s pull-out from the occupied territories. In an article published on 13 June 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russians and Ukrainians are one people and that the West was deliberately trying to draw Kyiv into a dangerous geopolitical game and turn Ukraine into an anti-Russian launchpad. In reality, the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation was triggered by Russia itself, when it occupied and illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014 and later instigated an anti-Kyiv revolt in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas.
Read more disinformation narratives about the West’s alleged anti-Russian and Russophobic activities.