DISINFO: NATO, Ukraine and Georgia are heating up the situation in the Black Sea region
SUMMARY
NATO is trying to aggravate the situation in the Black Sea region: ships from the Netherlands, Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria have entered Georgian and Ukrainian ports. The manoeuvrers of the ships of the North Atlantic Alliance exacerbate the situation in the region. NATO specifically provokes Russia: the Alliance takes advantage of any country that is located next to Russia.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative about NATO belligerence and NATO encircling Russia. On April 5, large-scale naval exercises of the NATO countries, Ukraine and Georgia started in the Black Sea. The ships of the North Atlantic Alliance entered the Ukrainian and Georgian ports earlier - on April 1. The Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Stepan Poltorak, has repeatedly stated that such exercises are always planned in advance and are known long before the start of military training. Earlier in Georgia, during the March military exercises with the participation of the military of the Alliance, they stressed that the Georgian side is not going to attack anyone. The main goal of all the training of the Georgian military with NATO experts is to increase the country's defence capability. As for one of the most common Russian narratives, the aspiration of Ukraine and Georgia to NATO membership “threatens the security of Russia”, and the main purpose of Brussels’s cooperation with Tbilisi and Kyiv is to “provoke the Kremlin” - this is a classic Russian manipulation. On April 4, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declared that Ukraine and Georgia are sovereign states that are free to build their own foreign policy on their own, without regard to Russia.