DISINFO: The goal of current tensions around Ukraine is to promote its integration into NATO
SUMMARY
Among the main goals of the current hysteria about the concentration of Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders is to sabotage Nord Stream 2 and everything related to Ukraine’s NATO membership. With these tensions and the media hype, the aim is to encourage the process of integrating Ukraine into NATO, even without a formal procedure. This way more troops and long-range weapons can be deployed on its territory, which obviously will cause a response from Russia.
RESPONSE
The claim is false, part of an ongoing disinformation campaign about Russia’s military buildup in Ukraine’s borders, aiming to deflect any Russian responsibility for the increase of tensions.
Concerns about this buildup are very real, as the concentration and transportation of Russian troops from other locations have been tracked by military experts in the last months through satellite images, and includes the deployment of more than 90,000 troops, as well as of certain specialised military units, electronic warfare systems and heavy-armoured vehicles.
The European Union expressed its deep concern about the current build-up of Russian military forces near the Ukrainian-Russian border. In a statement released by the G7 countries on 12 December 2021, the leaders called on Russia to de-escalate, pursue diplomatic channels, and abide by its international commitments on transparency of military activities.
There is no evidence to back the affirmation that information about this deployment has been exaggerated or fabricated, much less in order to sabotage Nord Stream 2 or force Ukraine’s further integration in NATO. Ukraine is a partner of NATO but not a member state, and full membership poses a challenge, but this doesn’t mean that current tensions are a ruse to find a way around these obstacles.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that the West needs Ukraine for NATO bases as Kyiv prepares for a mythical Russian invasion, or that the escalation in Donbas is part of a US destabilisation pattern in post-Soviet states.
This disinformation message appeared in the same TV programme as the claim that “The US and NATO won’t hesitate to risk the lives of Ukrainians in a war”.