DISINFO: The EU wants to destroy Russia and its sovereignty
SUMMARY
There can be no peace between Russia and the European Union. (According to the EU), Russia should either be destroyed or become part of the EU. The EU cannot co-exist with a country like Russia. Russia enjoys sovereignty. It has its own culture and faith, something the EU is trying to eliminate inside itself. Russia is an irritant to the EU.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets claiming that the generic West - an in this particular case, the EU - aims to destroy Russia. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
There is no evidence to support the claim.
The European Union has been trying to establish good relations with Russia since the breakup of the former Soviet Union in 1991. Trade and economic cooperation started to intensify between Russia and the EU as an organisation and separate EU member states.
However, Moscow’s increasingly aggressive behaviour made the EU change its attitude towards it. Since Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s peninsula of Crimea and instigated a separatist result in the East of Ukraine in 2014, the EU has imposed sanctions on Moscow. These restrictive measures have targeted both Russia’s economy and certain Russian individuals closely linked to Putin. The list of sanctions has widened since Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Despite the fact that the EU, the US and other foreign partners of Ukraine provide Kyiv with military and financial assistance, they do not intend to destroy the Russian state. This aid is only aimed at helping Ukraine restore its territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders rather than eliminate Russia. US President Joe Biden in February 2023 addressed Russian citizens, assuring them that the US does not seek to destroy or control Russia. French president Macron stated in February 2023 as well that "Russia must be defeated but not crushed.
The EU condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is entirely unjustified and unprovoked. Despite Russia's continuation of its aggressive foreign policy, the EU still hopes for a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine war. The EU unequivocally supported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace formula.
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