DISINFO: NATO enlargement and EU sabotage of the Minsk agreements pushed Russia to intervene
SUMMARY
The reasons for the Russian intervention in Ukraine must be sought in the threatening advance of NATO towards Russia's borders and the attempt to bring Ukraine into NATO by means of a coup. All Russian attempts to reach a compromise have failed, both in 2014-15 with the Western sabotage of the agreements reached in Minsk, and with the sabotage of the agreements that were reached in Istanbul in 2022.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine being a reaction to NATO enlargement as well as disinformation narratives accusing Ukraine’s EU partners of undermining the Minsk Agreements and other efforts to achieve peace between Kyiv and Moscow.
Russia has been coming up with multiple different justifications for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Narratives about NATO expansion are among the most persistent pro-Kremlin disinformation myths. See also our article Thirteen myths about Russia’s war against Ukraine exposed.
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.
As for the Istanbul talks in the spring of 2022, Ukraine stopped them after Russia’s atrocities in Bucha and other towns outside Kyiv were discovered. Read the full debunk at Myth Detector of pro-Kremlin disinformation about former British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson’s alleged involvement in disrupting the negotiations.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that NATO's desire for Ukraine is the reason for the special military operation, that Boris Johnson derailed 2022 Istanbul peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine and that Ukraine, Germany and France did not want to fulfil the Minsk agreements.