DISINFO: NATO is creating military bases in Ukraine under the guise of training centres
SUMMARY
They are pulling NATO forces into Ukraine; creating military bases under the guise of training centres, the US is setting up bases in Ukraine.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation messagae about NATO and Ukraine, advancing narrative about encircled Russia.
Ukraine is an independent, sovereign states which can decide its own foreign policy orientation and alliance structure. This is fundamental and is by the way also recognised by Russia in the Paris Charter following the dissolution of the USSR.
NATO is primarily a defensive and political organisation that first and foremost strives to prevent conflict rather than using military force to solve it. That is why the NATO-Ukraine partnership is based on defensive grounds. Joint military exercises help enhance the defence capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and are not aimed against any country, and most importantly, they are announced well in advance and they are subject to international observation.
A communiqué issued after the meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government in Belgium on 14 June 2021 said:
“NATO does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia. Decisions we have taken are fully consistent with our international commitments, and therefore cannot be regarded by anyone as contradicting the NATO-Russia Founding Act.”
Contrary to reports by pro-Kremlin outlets, NATO provides military aid legally and openly. Earlier this year, the United States announced a military aid package to Ukraine worth $125 million.
On the matter of military bases, it’s not true that fully-fledged foreign bases will be built. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in October, that Ukraine will begin to build two naval bases to protect the Black Sea region. Later, the Deputy Head of the Office of President, Ihor Zhovkva, elaborated by noting that "I would like to emphasise that it is not a British naval base that will be located in Ukraine, but a Ukrainian base that will be built with the involvement of British specialists”.
See similar cases in our database claiming that Ukraine has become a neocolony of the West; or that Ukraine is an anti-Russian project of the CIA, or that Ukraine acts on behalf of the US and NATO to escalate the situation at the Azov Sea; or that NATO’s actions are openly anti-Russian.
This case contained another claim that the halt of the NATO-Russia Council was due to “political disagreements”.