DISINFO: Ukraine is a source of cheap raw materials and an anti-Russian springboard
SUMMARY
In 2014 Ukrainian nationalists, supported by radicals, organized a coup. They captured the whole state and unleashed a civil conflict. It turned out that Western masters have little interest in Ukraine’s domestic politics because the EU got the main thing: a source of cheap raw materials, labour force and an open market. Furthermore, the EU destroyed competitive branches of Ukraine’s industry. In turn, the US received a new anti-Russia springboard with a frozen military conflict and, potentially, a new buyer of liquified gas.
RESPONSE
This is disinformation consistent with a collection of recurring pro-Kremlin narratives alleging a coup d’état in Ukraine and civil war, abandoned Ukraine, Ukraine's hyper-dependence on the West, and Ukraine as an anti-Russian project. The spontaneous onset of massive Euromaidan protests was a reaction of the Ukrainian population to the sudden departure of the President Yanukovych from the Association Agreement with the European Union and to the brutal dispersal of student protest actions on 30 November 2013. The 2014 events cannot be named a coup d'état because, after Yanukovych's escape, the new President was elected in free and fair elections. According to the OSCE, "the people of Ukraine had the opportunity to genuinely express their will at the ballot box". Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state with a democratically-elected president and parliament. The EU and US support the democratic development of Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter’s principles of non-interference into internal affairs and respect towards territorial integrity and political independence. Furthermore, there is irrefutable evidence of direct Russian military involvement in eastern Ukraine. The claim that the EU destroyed competitive branches of Ukraine's industry is unfounded. Thanks to the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, Ukraine increased its exports to the EU from EUR 13.2b to EUR 18b in 2016-2018. See further information about the DCFTA and the cooperation between the EU and Ukraine.