DISINFO: NATO planned to turn Crimea into its military base
SUMMARY
NATO admitted that it intended to turn the annexed Crimea into its huge naval base. The North Atlantic Alliance chatted about how the future of the peninsula would have developed if Crimea had not become part of Russia.
RESPONSE
The mythical encroachments of NATO countries on the Ukrainian peninsula are the most common narrative from Russian media. The Kremlin justifies the annexation of the peninsula with these “facts about the evil NATO”. Although NATO has repeatedly emphasised that the North Atlantic Alliance did not have any views on the ports of Crimea before it was annexed. Speaking at the Centre for Strategic Studies at Queen Victoria University in New Zealand on August 5, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg did address the Crimean issue. However, Stoltenberg spoke of Crimea not in the context of the "NATO plans for militarising" the peninsula, but as one of the main modern threats to the world order that developed after the end of World War II. According to the NATO Secretary-General, at the moment, there is an increase in the Russian presence in the world due to the increasing competition of states. Stoltenberg emphasised that one of the main goals of the Kremlin is to undermine confidence in democratic institutions in NATO member countries. Therefore, Moscow annexed Crimea and withdrew from the INF Treaty.