Nato russia. mark rutte. kremlin today. russian propaganda. russian invasion

The German branch of the russian media holding company RT has published another propaganda article about NATO's desire to attack russia. According to the logic of the kremlin copywriters, it is NATO that provoked and is supporting the conflict in Ukraine in order to weaken russia at the hands of ordinary Ukrainians with Western weapons. The expectation is that russia will allegedly collapse and disintegrate into separate parts so that they can be easily captured. With this narrative, russian propaganda is trying to deflect responsibility and portray itself as a victim rather than an aggressor.

The truth: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned in a speech that russian President vladimir putin aims to ‘wipe Ukraine off the map’ and may then target other parts of Europe, especially former socialist countries. Rutte recalled russia's history of aggression, including its actions in Moldova, Georgia, Crimea, and the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The NATO Secretary General accused russia of coordinated hostile actions against Allies (cyberattacks and sabotage aimed at destabilising societies and undermining support for Ukraine). He called on member states to exceed the 2% of GDP defence spending target to effectively counter these threats.
Claims that the West is using Ukraine as a springboard for a war against russia are unfounded. Firstly, NATO is a defence alliance created to collectively defend against military threats. NATO has never invaded the territories of sovereign states. At the same time, russia has done so on numerous occasions. It was russia that started the war against Ukraine back in 2014 and decided to escalate it in 2022. russia is the only country responsible for the invasion of Ukraine. And NATO is forced to respond to the real threat by increasing spending on defence systems.
It is also a manipulative claim that Ukraine's desire to join the alliance provoked putin to invade because it violated ‘secret’ agreements not to expand NATO to russia's borders. NATO was already near russia's borders (Latvia and Estonia have been NATO members since 2004), and in 2023 Finland, which also shares a border with russia, became a new member of the alliance, but the kremlin did not send troops to these countries.
Since the start of hostilities, the kremlin has been coming up with various false explanations and justifications for its aggression. NATO troops have never been in Ukraine. It was putin's personal decision to invade Ukraine and start the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II. Not only Western countries, but also many other countries of the world support Ukraine with military and financial assistance for the effective self-defence of the country, in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, to stop russia's aggression against Ukraine.
According to EuVsDisinfo.eu