Kremlin’s False Narrative: “NATO Is Fighting Russia to the Last Ukrainian” Continues
NATO neither started the military invasion, nor does it have troops in Ukraine. Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022 and Ukraine, as an independent country, has the right to defend itself and use available means of assistance from its friends. NATO is sending military aid to Ukraine without being a party to the war. The post manipulates that Ukraine is a puppet in the hands of NATO, although it is clear that the war could stop immediately if Russia were to retreat from Ukrainian territory
We are fact-checking a post published on the social media Facebook (screenshot here) that says:
NATO can fight Russia in Ukraine to the last Ukrainian in the country, or it could stop supplying Ukraine with weapons that would lead to a rapid collapse and capitulation. It is up to NATO for how long the war will last, not up to Zelenskyy!
It is not true at all that it is up to NATO for how long the war will last, because NATO is not a party to the war.
NATO condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine – which is an independent, peaceful and democratic country and a close NATO partner. NATO and Allies continue to support Ukraine with unprecedented levels of support, helping to uphold its fundamental right to self-defense, specifies NATO’s website.
Ukraine is not a NATO Member-State, but a partner-country. That means that it works closely with NATO, but is not covered by the security guarantee of the Alliance’s founding treaty.
On NATO’s website, several myths spread by Kremlin propaganda sources have been debunked. The first one is exactly that stated in the post we are fact-checking – that NATO “is at war with Russia in Ukraine” at the expense of Ukrainian victims.
NATO is not at war with Russia and we do not seek confrontation with Russia. What NATO does, supports Ukraine in its right to self-defense, as stated in the United Nations Charter. Over the past month, we have taken purely defensive measures to increase the presence of NATO troops in the eastern part of the Alliance.
This ensures there is no room for misunderstanding in Moscow about our willingness to protect and defend our allies. Our primary task is to keep our 30 nations safe. Our responsibility is to ensure that the conflict does not escalate and spread beyond Ukraine, because that would be even more devastating and even more dangerous, states NATO’s website.
In addition, NATO is a defense alliance whose purpose is to protect its members. NATO’s official policy is that “NATO does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to the Russian Federation“.
NATO did not invade Georgia, NATO did not invade Ukraine. Russia did. NATO has reached out to Russia consistently and publicly over the past 30 years. We worked together on issues ranging from counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism to submarine rescue and civil emergency planning – even during periods of NATO enlargement. However, in 2014,
in response to Russia’s aggressive actions against Ukraine, NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia. We do not seek confrontation, but we cannot ignore Russia breaking international rules, undermine our stability and security, states NATO’s website.
In response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO has significantly reinforced its deterrence and defence posture, including with four new battle groups in the Eastern part of the Alliance. At the NATO Summit in Madrid, Allies agreed that Russia is the most significant and direct threat to their security and to peace and stability of the Euro-Atlantic areas. Allies also agreed to further strengthen NATO’s posture. However, NATO helps coordinate Ukrainian aid requests and supports Allies deliver humanitarian aid. Article 5 (security guarantee) and the collective defense promise, reassures the Allies that they can send weapons to Ukraine without compromising their own security.
Individual NATO member-states send weapons, ammunition and many types of light and heavy military equipment, drones and tanks. To date, NATO Allies have secured billions of euros worth of military equipment to Ukraine. The Allies also train Ukrainian troops to use this equipment. All of this makes a difference on the battlefield every day, thereby helping Ukraine uphold its right to self-defence, which is enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
Since the beginning of Russia’s aggressive military invasion of Ukraine, on several occasions, Kremlin has made propaganda attempts to twists theses and impose series of justifications for its attacks. Contrary to the stated, the post we are fact-checking indicates that Russia was the one that invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and therefore, Ukraine, as an independent state with territorial integrity and sovereignty, has the right to defend itself and use all available means of assistance from its friends. If it does not do that, then it would face even bigger territorial claims from Russia.
The post actually claims that “NATO is fighting Russia in Ukraine” which is disinformation. NATO neither started the military invasion (Russia did), nor does it have troops in Ukraine. NATO, however, is sending military aid to Ukraine without being a party to the war. By claiming that “the stop of military aid” would lead to a rapid collapse and capitulation and claiming that “it is up to NATO how long the war will last, not to Zelenskyy”, an attempt is made to manipulate Ukraine and depict it as a puppet in the hands of NATO thereby undermining its independence and sovereignty, including its democratic processes and decision-making – to defend itself from occupation and territorial claims. The war would be able to stop at once provided Russia retreats from Ukrainian territory.
Due to all the facts noted above, we assess the fact-checked post as untrue.
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