DISINFO: Ukraine is being used to fight against Russia and weaken the EU
SUMMARY
Over the past 7 years, Ukraine has been used for waging geopolitical warfare against the Russian Federation and for weakening the European Union. It is evident. The reaction of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron has clearly shown that no one is going to fight for Ukraine. During escalation in Eastern Ukraine this spring, the United States and its media also said that they would not be intervening.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin media outlets, claiming that Ukraine is a battleground for the war between the United States and the Russian Federation. In reality, a war is fueled by Russia into Ukraine's eastern parts where Ukraine is the target of Russian hybrid aggression. Moscow-backed separatists in the Eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas have been waging war against Kyiv for over 7 years. First, they were insisting on secession, complete independence from Ukraine and joining the Russian Federation. Later, they started demanding autonomy within Ukraine with broad powers, such as vetoing Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration.
The West imposed sanctions on Russia right after it illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and instigated a revolt in Donbas in 2014. As Russia has been increasingly violating international law over the past years, restrictive measures have been toughened as well. Statements by Western leaders, including those by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron during the recent Russian escalation along the Ukrainian border, have always been supportive of Ukraine. In a video conference in mid-April 2021, Macron, Merkel and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Russia to withdraw the additional troops it had amassed on its border with Ukraine and in occupied Crimea over recent weeks. All of them expressed concern over the situation along Ukraine’s border. The United States also voices bipartisan support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
The fact that NATO commanders visit Kyiv does not mean that its troops are involved in the war. Ukraine has been cooperating with NATO since the early 1990s, and these relations have since developed into one of the most substantial of NATO’s partnerships. NATO and Ukraine stage joint manoeuvres and the United States openly provides Ukraine with legal military aid, but Ukraine alone fights the separatists, whom Russia sectretely supplies with weapons.
Ukraine is not being used to weaken the EU. Ukraine is a priority partner for the European Union. The EU supports Ukraine in ensuring a stable, prosperous, and democratic future for its citizens and is unwavering in its support for Ukraine’s independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty.
Read more disinformation narratives claiming that the West is pushing Ukraine towards war with Russia.