Comment by Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov on rising wave of anti-Russian speculations in Western media regarding the situation in Ukraine

Submitted on Thu, 08/28/2014 - 22:00

A number of media outlets have recently been spreading Ukrainian claims that “Russian military invasion in Ukraine” was under way and demands of “decisive action of the West”. It is highly regrettable that the new wave of Kiev’s propaganda on the situation in Ukraine is being deliberately blown up and so easily supported by mainstream European media in spite of lack of any credible evidence.

Over the last months we experienced a number of such aggressive misinformation campaigns. One may ask why this new one is being carried out exactly at this particular moment. Let me outline how I view the reasons for that. First, it is becoming increasingly obvious that all efforts by the Ukrainian Government to resolve the ongoing crisis in the East of the country through punitive military operation, not only failed to bring a Blitzkrieg victory, but are on the verge of collapse. Second, I have strong impression that this newest anti-Russian campaign reflects the fact that some people in Kiev, and probably in third countries acting as Ukrainian sponsors are less than happy with the recent launch of the Minsk format of international cooperation on the Ukrainian crisis. These talks, though unfortunately not having resulted in a breakthrough, established an important direct high-level contact between the Customs Union and the EU, opening the way not only to the peaceful settlement of Ukrainian crisis, but also revitalizing of Russia-EU cooperation. And last but not least. It doesn’t take an expert to see that the surge of Russophobic rhetoric is timed to the upcoming meeting of the European Council on 30 August in Brussels and NATO summit on 4-5 September in Wales, aiming to remind European and North American countries of the mythical “Russian threat” and provoke them to take “strong actions” against Russia.

I am sure European leaders, as well as general public, are in a position to take an objective view, draw reasonable conclusions without being misled by ludicrous misinformation, and understand that political solution of Ukrainian crisis has no alternative.