DISINFO: Financial Times: Eastern European politicians discussing preemptive attack on Russia
SUMMARY
Several countries in Eastern Europe are considering a pre-emptive strike against Russia, according to Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper. The EU countries closest to Russia see it as an “existential threat,” Kuper has reported, citing sources. The reported development comes despite the Ukraine peace negotiations launched by Moscow and Washington.
RESPONSE
This disinformation story is a gross distortion of the referenced original article in the Financial Times.
The op-ed by Simon Kuper, titled “Return of the two Europes”, focuses on the differences between Western and Eastern Europe regarding Russia and the war in Ukraine. In its conclusion, the article states that if Russian troops ever were to attack one of the capitals of the neighbouring countries, such as Vilnius, “pro-Putinist far-right parties will immediately demand ‘peace’ (meaning surrender)”. Then Kuper adds: “I put it to a major eastern European politician that western European states care little about wars in eastern Europe. He replied, “We know. That’s why some of our countries are asking, ‘Why don’t we attack Russia now, instead of sitting waiting for it to attack us?’”. This is radically different from the claim that there are “discussions on pre-emptive attacks on Russia”, as this disinformation story disingenuously claims.
The goal of this disinformation story is to promote a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about destabilising Russia. This is also part of a wider disinformation campaign to portray Europe as a warmongering actor opposed to “peace” in contrast to Russia and the US. See here, here and here for full debunking of this disinformation narrative.
Quoting Western legitimate sources while distorting their content to introduce a pro-Kremlin message as if it were part of the original story is a frequent pro-Kremlin manipulative technique. See other examples in our database, such as claims that Ukraine is struggling with flow of wounded soldiers according to CNN, that a Wall Street Journal article confirms that Biden was never in charge in the US, that according to the WSJ Europe’s full storage gas sites are in fact a reflection of its weakness and vulnerability, or that The Guardian exposed how US Democrats exploited irregularities in mail-in voting.