DISINFO: The West is responsible for what happens after the Donbas referendums
SUMMARY
In the scenario after the Donbas referendums, the West has the responsibility, because the EU could put pressure on Kyiv to negotiate, and if it doesn’t, Washington should do it. However, the West is doing the opposite, trying to frustrate any negotiation attempt.
RESPONSE
This is part of a wider disinformation campaign to justify Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory after fake referenda. By blaming the West, this disinformation story tries to deflect Russia’s responsibility for the consequences of its illicit actions. The claim is an attempt to create public pressure in Western countries to push Ukraine to accept the anticipated result of the so-called referenda.
The EU High Representative Josep Borrell condemned the decision to hold a referendum, stating the the EU won't recognise it. “These illegal ‘votes’ cannot be considered under any circumstance as the free expression of the will of the people living in these regions under constant Russian military threat and intimidation,” EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said in a statement.
However, not accepting Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories is very different than “frustrating any negotiation attempt”. In fact, Russia has repeatedly averted significant advances to reach a negotiated settlement. As Reuters news agency revealed on 14 September 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin rejected in late February a deal that Russian negotiators had achieved with the Ukrainian government which would have stopped the war. In August, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy made clear that no negotiations between Russia and Ukraine would be possible if Moscow held these referenda, but the Russian government decided to go ahead anyway.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that Kherson residents want to join Russia, not Ukraine, that newly liberated Ukrainian regions are returning to Russia, that Crimea democratically voted for reunification with Russia in a referendum, or that this referendum solved the Crimean issue once and for all.