DISINFO: Sea Breeze military exercises threaten Russia, prepare for war
SUMMARY
NATO has sharply increased aggression towards Russia. Militarisation is underway in Ukraine. Such military exercises are aimed at preparing for a war with Russia, not peacekeeping. Russia is against them. These war games are aimed against Russia and the Black Sea Fleet.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative, claiming that NATO is waging an aggressive campaign against Russia and using Ukraine for that purpose. In reality, the Sea Breeze exercises are not aimed against Russia. Their aim is to enhance mutual defence capabilities and make the situation in the region more stable.
Russia was explaining its recent military build-up along Ukraine’s border by the fact that it was holding military exercises and that it had every right to do that. Since NATO is a military organisation, it is obvious that it stages war games from time to time, too. However, it is also a political alliance that promotes democratic values and enables its members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
It is Russia that is continually militarising the region. Since 2014, it has been widely criticised for staging provocative military exercises along Ukraine’s border and in the vicinity of the Baltic nations, which are NATO members. In response to this criticism, Russia says it has the right to stage war games in its territory. At the same time, Moscow is blasting NATO and Ukraine for staging joint military exercises, which in fact pose no threat to anyone in the Black Sea region.
The exercises were announced in advance and are taking place from June 28 to July 10 in the Black Sea region. They will have the largest number of participating nations in the exercises’ history with 32 countries from six continents providing 5,000 troops, 32 ships, 40 aircraft, and 18 special operations and dive teams scheduled to participate.
Since the early 1990s, Ukraine and NATO have been building their relations on the basis of partnership and mutual respect. During Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba’s visit to the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels on 13 April 2021, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a joint press point:
“Reforms will bring Ukraine closer to NATO. We want to see Ukraine succeed. We are committed to helping you to do so.”
See more narratives about NATO’s alleged presence in Donbas and the West’s attempts to provoke Ukraine into war with Russia.