Diplomatic Attack Against NATO Enlargement (2008)
Diplomatic blackmail by V. Putin around the NATO summit in Bucharest aimed at blocking the granting of a Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Ukraine. Two days after the summit, at a meeting with G. Bush in Sochi, the Russian leader denied Ukrainian statehood - Ukraine, in his words, "is not a nation built in a natural manner" but "an artificial country created back in Soviet times"[1] - and directly threatened its rupture: "the country could just split apart," adding that, relying on anti-NATO forces, "Russia would be creating problems there all the time"[1]. At the summit itself, as retold by Kommersant's source, Putin told Bush: "You understand, George, that Ukraine is not even a state!" - in effect threatening "that Russia could begin the severance of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine"[2].
Actors
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| G0011 | Russian Federation | 2 |
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0009 | Diplomacy | 1 |
| S0021 | Propaganda | 1 |
Procedures Carried Out
An attempt to strike a deal with the US leader over Kyiv's head in order to block Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration under the threat of its dismemberment: Ukraine's accession to NATO would create "a field of conflict for you and us, long-term confrontation," while Moscow, relying on anti-NATO forces, "would be working on stripping NATO of the possibility of enlarging. Russia would be creating problems there all the time"[1]. As retold by Kommersant's source from the summit itself: "You understand, George, that Ukraine is not even a state! What is Ukraine? Part of its territory is Eastern Europe, and part - a considerable part - was gifted by us!" - with a transparent hint "that Russia could begin the severance of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine"[2].
The deliberate injection of false historical narratives into the international arena: Ukraine, according to the Russian leader, "is not a nation built in a natural manner" and "an artificial country created back in Soviet times," and its territories were supposedly gifts - "In the 1920s and 1930s Ukraine obtained territory from Russia -- that's the eastern part of the country. In 1956, the Crimean peninsula was transferred to Ukraine"[1]. From this the thesis of its possible disintegration was derived: "the country could just split apart"[1].