A new dose of disinformation: Lithuania calls on Volodymyr Zelenskiy to end the war?

Based on a US journalist

A message about the fact that some EU countries are allegedly “secretly urging V. Zelensky to stop the conflict in Ukraine” appeared on the Russian portal “Gazeta” on Wednesday.

“American journalist, Pulitzer Prize laureate Seymour Hersh claims that a group of European countries led by Poland is secretly calling on Ukrainian President V. Zelensky to stop the conflict in his country, even if the politician would have to resign because of it”, – quoted article published on the journalist’s page.

According to him, this group includes the Baltic and Eastern European countries, especially Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

The leader of Ukraine allegedly did not agree with such a proposal, which is why he allegedly began to lose the support of his neighbors.

S. Hersh’s page on the platform “Substack” indeed published an essay “The issue of Ukrainian refugees” on the same day, which contained the following information.

“Ukraine’s neighbors call on V. Zelensky to seek peace while millions of displaced persons are pouring into Europe,” reads the subtitle of the text, which has already been liked by almost 700 people.

It mentions the publication of the US newspaper “Washington Post”. classified intelligence documentsfrom which it can be seen that V. Zelensky was determined to actively attack Russia.

“However, as some members of the American intelligence community know and secretly reported, preparations are being made for something else at the urging of various levels of government officials in Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia (spelled exactly like this – ed. post) and Latvia.” These countries are allies of Ukraine and declared enemies of (Russian President) Vladimir Putin.”

This group is allegedly led by Poland. “She quietly urged V. Zelensky to find a way to end the war – if necessary, even to resign himself – and allow the process of rebuilding his state to begin – without more concrete evidence writes S. Hersh. “According to the data intercepted by the Central Intelligence Agency and other data, V. Zelensky is not giving up, but he is starting to lose the private support of his neighbors.”

Support at all levels

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of our country assessed this report as disinformation and a conspiracy theory.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not comment on rumors, conspiracy theories, or disinformation spread by RF (Russian Federation – ed.) propaganda channels,” the portal is told 15min in the given answer.

Also read: New provocations in the Russian media: they accuse Lithuania of preparing for an attack

However, various information is published publicly, which refutes the claims that it is V. Zelenskiy who is calling for an end to the conflict or that the support of neighboring countries for Ukraine is waning.

As is known, Ukraine last September submitted an application for fast-track NATO membership.

Foreign Ministers of the Baltic States on the same day expressed support for its adoption “as soon as possible”.

In February this year, President Gitanas Nausėda made a similar speech at the Munich Security Conference. “We need to be ambitious and agree on practical and political measures that would bring Ukraine as close to the Alliance as is currently possible,” he said.

“After the end of the war, which I sincerely believe will be won by the Ukrainians, Ukraine cannot be left in the gray zone anymore, we cannot risk wars in Europe again”, – emphasized Head of Lithuania.

Seimas in April adopted a resolution on goals during the NATO summit in Vilnius. It states that Lithuania will seek to invite Ukraine to become a member of the Alliance at the meeting to be held in early July.

G. Nausėda at the meeting of the Council of European Leaders held in February emphasized, that Ukraine’s place is in the EU. He said that it is necessary to ensure the smooth process of Ukraine’s accession and, based on the concrete progress made, to start negotiations this year.

MEP Petras Auštrevičius at a similar time claimedthat Ukraine deserves the most direct path to the EU.

These statements and comments mean that Lithuania, together with other EU members, seeks not only the victory of Ukraine, but also Euro-Atlantic integration at various levels: from the president to individual politicians.

Millions of refugees are not flowing

Lithuania is not only statements one of the most active supporters of Ukraine. Minister of National Defense Arvydas Anušauskas at the Seimas meeting a month ago reportedthat Lithuania’s support to Ukraine already amounts to at least 454 million euros.

“We allocate funds to international funds as well. We train Ukrainians, last year we trained 500 Ukrainian soldiers, this year we plan to train 1,600 of them, and maybe up to 2,000. <...> our commitment is to provide support to Ukraine until victory over the aggressor”, said the minister.

Statista, an online platform that collects data on markets and users, countedhow much countries spent on arming Ukraine, humanitarian and financial aid.

Also read: Ukraine’s gratitude to Lithuania spreads on the Internet: “We will never forget your generosity”

The European Union (as an organization) is in second place, having allocated 35 billion. euros. It is followed by the United Kingdom (8.3 billion euros), Germany (6.1 billion euros), Canada (4 billion euros).

Lithuania, based on data covering the period from the beginning of the invasion to mid-January), allocated 350 million. euros and is the 19th.

However, comparing the aid provided by the countries with their capabilities, the picture changes, the website pointed out technologijos.lt.

Slightly older figures (up to last November 20) showed that one Estonian received €255 in support, one American received €184, a Latvian received €178, a Lithuanian and a Briton received €100 each, a Pole received €80, and a German received €65.

According to mid-January data, the four countries that gave the largest share of their gross domestic product to Ukraine were as follows: Estonia (1.1%), Latvia (0.93%), Poland (0.5%), Lithuania (0. 46 percent)

EU-wide support for Ukraine is written in detail here, here, here, here, here.

S. Hersh’s phrase about “flowing millions of refugees” is not accurate. It is true that after Russia attacked Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians left for European countries.

According to the United Nations, since the beginning of the war in Europe registered almost 8.25 million refugees. But most of them came in the first year, especially last year.

At the end of February, this figure sought almost 8.1 million refugees, which means that about 150 thousand arrived in the last three months. people.

A strong decrease in refugees is also shown Statistics of Lithuania. During the entire period of the war, we received 77 thousand of arrivals from Ukraine. There were 209 of them in the previous week, 185 in the last week, and 20 in the last 24 hours.

Preparing not to finish, but to attack

The position of the Ukrainians is the opposite of what, according to S. Hersh, is allegedly demanded by some EU countries. They talk about a counterattack, the liberation of the occupied territories, and even the collapse of the current Russia.

Such goals for the interview portal 15min named Ihoris Huzas, a member of the Supreme Rada of Ukraine, head of the friendship group with the Republic of Lithuania.

Also read: Ukrainian deputy: we will never forgive the Russians, we will seek the collapse of Russia

The politician also claimed that he does not see the West’s fatigue regarding the support provided, even though one of the EU members – Hungary – often expresses the opposite position.

“For now, we do not see fatigue, because our most important allies are working dynamically to support Ukraine with weapons, economically. <…> There are several countries that do not change their position. They have no influence on the situation – you said Hungary, some other countries.

We see that all the main positions in support are implemented.”

<…> We don’t see fatigue yet, but we understand that it can be. <…> In general, we see that the civilized world actively supports us.

The latest decision, that the European Commission nevertheless found a consensus on who will produce ammunition for Ukraine with European money, is also important. Because a counterattack, an effective war, is ammunition.”

Speaking about NATO membership and the upcoming summit, I. Huza noted that the closest neighbors – Romanians, Bulgarians, Moldovans, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, the Baltic countries, and above all – Lithuania – are the most important allies on this path.

Propagator of conspiracy theories

S.Hershas is a well-known journalist. In the past, he exposed the executions of the South Vietnamese population by US soldiers massacre in My Lai village. The book describing these events was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

The reporter’s reporting on the Watergate scandal for the New York Times led to an award-winning book about former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

The pens of S. Hersh belong to the critically acclaimed book about 1983. the downing of a South Korean airliner by the Soviets, Israel’s nuclear weapons program and the abuse of prisoners by American soldiers at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison during the US occupation of Iraq.

However, the journalist’s reputation has declined somewhat in recent years.

in 2017 he spent a book about the events surrounding the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011. The author explained that everything that has been said or written about this historic and massively documented event, including the White House’s version, is a lie.

Recently S. Hersh on his website stated, that the US was responsible for the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. The White House denied these allegations rejectedhis message was even evaluated as disinformation.

The journalist has also published false information, allegedly V. Zelenskis and his entourage in 2022. embezzled at least 400 million dollars for your own use.

Also read: Volodymyr Zelenskiy – after being accused of embezzling 400 million dollars: where did this myth come from?

The publication was prepared in 15 minutes in partnership with Metawhich aims to stop the spread of misleading news on the social network. More about the program and its rules – here.