Lavrov echoes debunked Kremlin narratives to justify war, undermine NATO

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's mid-January property league “on the show of Russian diplomacy successful 2024” was filled with mendacious and misleading claims, galore antecedently debunked, highlighting the Kremlin's broader disinformation tactics.

Russia's disinformation aims to legitimize its war, undermine NATO and erode Western enactment for Ukraine. By targeting home and planetary audiences — particularly skeptics of U.S. argumentation — it seeks to signifier perceptions, distort humanities facts and make mendacious equivalencies. The extremity is to warrant aggression portion portraying Ukraine arsenic illegitimate and extremist.

NATO enlargement

Lavrov falsely claims that NATO promised not to grow eastward.

“We person agelong mislaid anticipation that Western countries volition fulfill their promises and obligations, including NATO's non-expansion to the east, refraining from luring Ukraine into NATO,” helium said.

In reality, NATO has ever maintained an “open doorway policy,” allowing immoderate authorities to articulation if it meets rank requirements. No pact ever restricted NATO expansion. In 2014, erstwhile Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev confirmed the West ne'er promised the Soviet Union otherwise. In 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton rejected a “gentlemen's agreement” with Russian President Boris Yeltsin to barroom erstwhile Soviet republics from joining NATO.

These facts disprove Lavrov's claims that NATO broke immoderate commitments to Russia, exposing the Kremlin's usage of disinformation to warrant its overseas argumentation and aggression against Ukraine.

Claim that penetration was defensive

Lavrov connected Jan. 14 besides falsely claimed that Russia's warfare against Ukraine is antiaircraft and aimed astatine protecting Russian-speaking populations.

“Despite the Minsk agreements, [Ukraine] bombed these radical [in Donbas], who should person been granted a peculiar presumption successful accordance with the U.N. Security Council's resolutions,” helium said. “After years of explaining this … we yet launched the peculiar subject cognition to support our information interests and the interests of the Russian radical successful Ukraine.”

This mendacious communicative has been challenged consistently. The planetary community, including the United Nations, has condemned Russia's penetration of Ukraine arsenic an enactment of aggression violating planetary law. Investigations person recovered nary credible grounds supporting claims of systemic oppression of Russian-speaking populations successful Ukraine that would warrant specified subject intervention.

United Nations information shows civilian casualties successful Donbas steadily declined earlier Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion, contradicting claims of a "humanitarian" mission. Experts person repeatedly demonstrated the warfare is not astir extortion but constitutes genocide against Ukrainians, exposing the Kremlin's disinformation to warrant aggression.

Zelenskyy's legitimacy

Lavrov falsely called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's presidency the merchandise of a coup, though helium won a antiauthoritarian election, which adjacent Russia initially recognized.

“[T]he existent Ukrainian regime, which came to powerfulness done an amerciable anti-constitutional coup,” helium said during the Jan. 14 property conference.

Zelenskyy's antiauthoritarian election — similar that of his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko — was recognized globally, including by Russia. Before Poroshenko, Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine during the Revolution of Dignity successful 2014, not owed to a coup, but amid wide protests.

Despite Russian claims of U.S. involvement, nary credible grounds links the protests to overseas orchestration.

'Self-determination' of Crimea, Donbas

Lavrov falsely claimed that Crimea and Donbas near Ukraine legally.

“The close to self-determination underpins the decisions made by residents of Crimea successful 2014 and by residents of Novorossiya and Donbass successful 2022,” helium said.

Russia's annexations interruption planetary law, arsenic the referendums were conducted nether subject concern without ineligible legitimacy.

Crimea, Donbas and different territories temporarily occupied by Russia are internationally recognized arsenic portion of Ukraine. The close to self-determination does not assistance immoderate radical the automatic close to secede, peculiarly done unit oregon overseas intervention.

Russia's ain constitution denies the close to secession, reinforcing that self-determination is subordinate to authorities sovereignty. This was affirmed successful 2 decisions by the Russian Constitutional Court, prioritizing territorial integrity implicit planetary self-determination principles.

Moreover, successful Putin's Russia, advocating for nationalist self-determination tin pb to transgression penalties. The 2022 penetration revealed Moscow's imperial ambitions, denying Ukraine's beingness and history. Russia forcibly deported Ukrainian children, starring the OSCE to statement Russia a assemblage empire rejecting rights to indigenous peoples.

Ukraine enactment called 'Nazi regime'

Lavrov falsely called the existent governmental authorities of Ukraine a Nazi organization.

“[T]he contented of [Ukraine's accession to] NATO indispensable beryllium taken disconnected the table, and the Russian speakers' language, spiritual and different rights, which Zelensky's Nazi authorities has outlawed, indispensable beryllium restored.”

The Kremlin falsely claims Ukraine is simply a Nazi state, ignoring the information that ultranationalist groups successful Ukraine, similar Svoboda, person constricted fashionable enactment and governmental power. Svoboda's power has diminished, receiving lone 2.15% of the ballot successful 2019. In contrast, ultranationalists successful Russia person important power connected authorities and subject policies, affecting home and overseas agendas.

Alleged prohibition connected Russian connection

Lavrov besides repeated the fallacious allegation that the Russian connection is barred successful Ukraine.

“They [Ukraine] enacted a instrumentality banning the Russian connection agelong earlier the peculiar subject cognition started. … The Russian connection has been wholly outlawed.”

No instrumentality banned Russian successful Ukraine, rather, policies promoted the Ukrainian connection portion inactive allowing Russian usage.

In July 2012, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada passed a instrumentality granting Russian "regional language" presumption successful areas wherever Russian speakers exceeded 10%. While absorption members argued it diminished Ukrainian, immoderate regions, including Donbas, recognized Russian arsenic the authoritative language.

After Yanukovych fled successful February 2014, the instrumentality was repealed, but acting President Oleksandr Turchynov declined to o.k. the repeal. It stayed successful effect until 2018, erstwhile Ukraine's Constitutional Court struck it down. This was portion of Ukraine's effort to fortify its nationalist individuality and bounds Russia's post-Soviet influence.

Accusations of TurkStream sabotage

Lavrov besides falsely accused the United States and Ukraine of targeting the TurkStream state pipeline, claiming Washington is encouraging Ukraine to sabotage the pipeline.

“[T]he U.S. has fixed the greenish airy to violent attacks designed to undermine EU's wellbeing successful presumption of vigor supplies,” helium said. “Now, they are encouraging their Ukrainian clients to enactment the TurkStream retired of operation, conscionable arsenic they did with the Nord Stream pipelines.”

No factual grounds has been provided to substantiate these allegations, making specified claims speculative and misleading.