DISINFO: NATO tanks aimed at Belarus and the Union State
SUMMARY
Today NATO tanks are aimed at Belarus, the Union State. The decision to bring NATO closer to the Russian borders is “insidious”.
The West will become tougher and tougher in relation to Russia and its closest allies because its geopolitical interests outweighed all obligations (unfortunately, oral) on the non-expansion of NATO to the East.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about NATO.
NATO is in no way directed against Russia or any other state. NATO’s objectives are set out in the 1949 Washington Treaty which forms the legal basis of the alliance. The treaty states that parties “are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security”.
NATO has taken defensive and proportionate steps in response to a changed security environment. Following Russia's aggressive actions against Ukraine, Allies requested a greater NATO presence in the region. NATO exercises and military deployments are not directed against Russia, Belarus or any other country. The claim that NATO is encircling or threatening Russia is one of the myths about this organisation.
As for the enlargement of NATO, the US or NATO made no promises to not expand into eastern and central Europe back in 1990, which was confirmed by the former president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. Back in 2014, Gorbachev said: "The topic of ‘NATO expansion’ was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. I say this with full responsibility."
See several other anti-NATO narratives such as NATO provoking Russia, Kaliningrad exclave is threatened by NATO, Eastern European countries are NATO “hostages” (Baltic states, Moldova, Poland) and that NATO has taken a path of aggression, and NATO is trying to destroy the military alliance of Russia and Belarus.
Read the most common fakes about relations between Russia and NATO here.