DISINFO: The US and Europe are equally responsible for the war in Ukraine
SUMMARY
Joe Biden is responsible for current events in Ukraine. This being said, it was Donald Trump who started arms supplies to Ukraine before Biden. Hence, the US responsibility is broader than that of Biden. Furthermore, Europe is equally responsible for the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict.
RESPONSE
This narrative seeks to deflect blame from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. By shifting the blame on the US and EU, pro-Kremlin outlets attempt to justify Russia’s actions and present its territorial expansionism as forced defensive actions.
This message is part of a wider disinformation campaign framing possible US-Russia negotiations as the only acceptable ‘peace initiative’ regardless of Russia’s ultimatums. Pro-Kremlin disinformation has long tried to misrepresent the EU as the main obstacle for ‘peace’ in Ukraine.
From the onset of the war, the European Union and its Member States have, with their partners and allies, underlined the need to put an end to it through a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law. The latest European Council conclusions restate the principles the EU supports in the pursuit of a just and long-lasting peace.
The European Union is committed to achieving a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine, ensuring that Kyiv’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected. EU officials have repeatedly stated that it is up to Ukraine only, as the victim of Russia’s aggression, to decide when peace talks with Russia may be possible and on which terms to end the war. Russia, in turn, continues to reject genuine peace efforts that are based on international law.
It was Russia that launched its unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine in 2022. Prior to that, in 2014, Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and instigated a separatist proxy war in the country’s east. The US, the EU and NATO condemn, in the strongest possible terms, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Not only Western but also many other nations around the world support Ukraine with military and financial aid for the country’s efficient self-defence, in accordance with the UN Charter article 51, to stop Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
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