Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s mid-January press conference “on the performance of Russian diplomacy in 2024” was filled with false and misleading claims, many previously debunked, highlighting the Kremlin’s broader disinformation tactics.
Russia’s disinformation aims to legitimize its war, undermine NATO and erode Western support for Ukraine. By targeting domestic and international audiences — especially skeptics of U.S. policy — it seeks to shape perceptions, distort historical facts and create false equivalencies. The goal is to justify aggression while portraying Ukraine as illegitimate and extremist.
NATO expansion
Lavrov falsely claims that NATO promised not to expand eastward.
“We have long lost hope that Western countries will fulfill their promises and obligations, including NATO’s non-expansion to the east, refraining from luring Ukraine into NATO,” he said.
In reality, NATO has always maintained an “open door policy,” allowing any state to join if it meets membership requirements. No treaty ever restricted NATO expansion. In 2014, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev confirmed the West never promised the Soviet Union otherwise. In 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton rejected a “gentlemen’s agreement” with Russian President Boris Yeltsin to bar former Soviet republics from joining NATO.
These facts disprove Lavrov’s claims that NATO broke any commitments to Russia, exposing the Kremlin’s use of disinformation to justify its foreign policy and aggression against Ukraine.
Claim that invasion was defensive
Lavrov on Jan. 14 also falsely claimed that Russia’s war against Ukraine is defensive and aimed at protecting Russian-speaking populations.
“Despite the Minsk agreements, [Ukraine] bombed these people [in Donbas], who should have been granted a special status in accordance with the U.N. Security Council’s resolutions,” he said. “After years of explaining this … we ultimately launched the special military operation to protect our security interests and the interests of the Russian people in Ukraine.”
This false narrative has been challenged consistently. The international community, including the United Nations, has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an act of aggression violating international law. Investigations have found no credible evidence supporting claims of systemic oppression of Russian-speaking populations in Ukraine that would justify such military intervention.
United Nations data shows civilian casualties in Donbas steadily declined before Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, contradicting claims of a “humanitarian” mission. Experts have repeatedly demonstrated the war is not about protection but constitutes genocide against Ukrainians, exposing the Kremlin’s disinformation to justify aggression.
Zelenskyy’s legitimacy
Lavrov falsely called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s presidency the product of a coup, though he won a democratic election, which even Russia initially recognized.
“[T]he current Ukrainian regime, which came to power through an illegal anti-constitutional coup,” he said during the Jan. 14 press conference.
Zelenskyy’s democratic election — like that of his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko — was recognized globally, including by Russia. Before Poroshenko, Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine during the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, not due to a coup, but amid mass protests.
Despite Russian claims of U.S. involvement, no credible evidence links the protests to foreign orchestration.
‘Self-determination’ of Crimea, Donbas
Lavrov falsely claimed that Crimea and Donbas left Ukraine legally.
“The right to self-determination underpins the decisions made by residents of Crimea in 2014 and by residents of Novorossiya and Donbass in 2022,” he said.
Russia’s annexations violate international law, as the referendums were conducted under military occupation without legal legitimacy.
Crimea, Donbas and other territories temporarily occupied by Russia are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. The right to self-determination does not grant any group the automatic right to secede, particularly through force or foreign intervention.
Russia’s own constitution denies the right to secession, reinforcing that self-determination is subordinate to state sovereignty. This was affirmed in two decisions by the Russian Constitutional Court, prioritizing territorial integrity over international self-determination principles.
Moreover, in Putin’s Russia, advocating for national self-determination can lead to criminal penalties. The 2022 invasion revealed Moscow’s imperial ambitions, denying Ukraine’s existence and history. Russia forcibly deported Ukrainian children, leading the OSCE to label Russia a colonial empire rejecting rights to indigenous peoples.
Ukraine leadership called ‘Nazi regime’
Lavrov falsely called the current political regime of Ukraine a Nazi organization.
“[T]he issue of [Ukraine’s accession to] NATO must be taken off the table, and the Russian speakers’ language, religious and other rights, which Zelensky’s Nazi regime has outlawed, must be restored.”
The Kremlin falsely claims Ukraine is a Nazi state, ignoring the fact that ultranationalist groups in Ukraine, like Svoboda, have limited popular support and political power. Svoboda’s influence has diminished, receiving only 2.15% of the vote in 2019. In contrast, ultranationalists in Russia have significant influence on state and military policies, affecting domestic and foreign agendas.
Alleged ban on Russian language
Lavrov also repeated the fallacious allegation that the Russian language is barred in Ukraine.
“They [Ukraine] enacted a law banning the Russian language long before the special military operation started. … The Russian language has been totally outlawed.”
No law banned Russian in Ukraine, rather, policies promoted the Ukrainian language while still allowing Russian usage.
In July 2012, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada passed a law granting Russian “regional language” status in areas where Russian speakers exceeded 10%. While opposition members argued it diminished Ukrainian, some regions, including Donbas, recognized Russian as the official language.
After Yanukovych fled in February 2014, the law was repealed, but acting President Oleksandr Turchynov declined to approve the repeal. It stayed in effect until 2018, when Ukraine’s Constitutional Court struck it down. This was part of Ukraine’s effort to strengthen its national identity and limit Russia’s post-Soviet influence.
Accusations of TurkStream sabotage
Lavrov also falsely accused the United States and Ukraine of targeting the TurkStream gas pipeline, claiming Washington is encouraging Ukraine to sabotage the pipeline.
“[T]he U.S. has given the green light to terrorist attacks designed to undermine EU’s wellbeing in terms of energy supplies,” he said. “Now, they are encouraging their Ukrainian clients to put the TurkStream out of operation, just as they did with the Nord Stream pipelines.”
No concrete evidence has been provided to substantiate these allegations, making such claims speculative and misleading.
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