DISINFO: The US caused the war in Ukraine to undermine Europe's economy
SUMMARY
Before the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Europe was one of the main economic competitors of the US. This was one of the causes of the war, as the US did not want any competitor. The US started the war against Russia on the shoulders of NATO, so the EU had to cut its economic and especially energy ties with Russia, automatically leading to the sinking of the European economy.
RESPONSE
The war in Ukraine was not caused by the US. The Russian Federation invaded Ukraine on 22 February 2023. Before this, Russia had illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula and engineered an armed conflict in Donbas in 2014.
The goal of this baseless allegation, not backed by facts, historical records or any other evidence, is to excuse Russia from any responsibility of its brutal invasion of Ukraine and the serious humanitarian tragedy it provoked.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the US is killing the EU’s economy and turning it into the state of late USSR, that the US is trying to destroy and occupy Europe, that the US is destroying industry in Europe by forcing Brussels to sanction Russia, or that sanctions that were supposed to destroy Russia may disintegrate the EU.