DISINFO: Moscow trust in Washington has been completely destroyed by US broken promises
SUMMARY
In Russia, trust in Washington has been completely destroyed by broken promises, such as that NATO will not move a single centimetre eastward, by broken military agreements, by the deception of the Minsk agreement and by the endless Washington's refusals to Russian requests for a mutual security agreement.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives accusing US and other Ukraine’s Western partners of undermining the Minsk Agreements and other efforts to achieve peace between Kyiv and Moscow, about NATO enlargement and about US supposed violation of the INF Treaty.
These claims are made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and their aims is to justify Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine as an act of self defence.
France and Germany, among other EU nations, played a significant role in the preparation of the Minsk Agreements, in collaboration with Ukraine and Russia. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also had a crucial part in this process. Among other provisions, these agreements called for a complete ceasefire and the holding of elections in the Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, in accordance with Ukrainian law. Ukraine was committed to implementing the Minsk Agreements; however, the implementation was continually disrupted by Moscow-backed military formations. These groups persistently attacked Ukrainian positions, and Russian troops refused to withdraw from the occupied Ukrainian territories.
Ukrainian law prohibits holding elections in the presence of foreign troops, which means Putin's refusal to withdraw Russian forces effectively disrupted the Minsk Agreements, implicating both Russia and the Moscow-backed separatists in the failure to implement the peace process.
NATO did not promise not to enlarge with eastern and central Europe back in 1990, which was confirmed by the former president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. Back in 2014, Gorbachev said “The topic of ‘NATO expansion was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. I say this with full responsibility”.
Central and Eastern European countries began seeking NATO membership in the early 1990s. NATO actively sought to create a cooperative environment that was conducive to enlargement while simultaneously building special relations with Russia.
NATO does not expand, but considers the applications of candidate countries that want to join exercising their free will to decide alliance affiliation. NATO enlargement is not directed against Russia.
The US government has issued repeated rebuttals of Russian accusations of US non-compliance with INF Treaty (see the latest press release of US Mission to NATO here). All three issues mentioned (the Aegis ashore missile defence systems, ballistic target missiles and armed unmanned aerial vehicles) have also been discussed with Russia through the Treaty’s Special Verification Commission and other forums. NATO has repeatedly confirmed that US is not in violation of the Treaty. In July 2018, the NATO Brussels Summit Declaration stated that “The United States is in compliance with its obligations under the INF Treaty and continues to provide substantial transparency on its programs while pursuing a diplomatic dialogue with Russia”.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that NATO forgot its promise not to expand one inch to the East, that Russia was promised NATO would never expand eastward, that Ukraine, Germany and France did not want to fulfil the Minsk agreements, that the US has violated the INF Treaty for years.