February 2024.
As part of the program Regional Initiative for combating disinformation “Western Balkans Combatting disinformation Center: Exposing malicious influences through fact-checking and Analytical Journalism“, we present you a new analysis of fake news and disinformation narratives.
Turnover: The isolated one is not Russia but the West
https://www.novosti.rs/c/planeta/svet/1336522/obrt-nije-rusija-izolovana-vec-zapad
“Russia does not feel isolated in the international arena due to its ongoing conflict in Ukraine thanks to the stance of the so-called Global South,” said the deputy envoy of Russia to the UN, Večernje Novosti reports.
Večernje Novosti took the text from the website of the Russian state media in Serbia, RT Balkan, in which it states that the term “Global South” came to the fore after many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America did not support the USA, Great Britain and their allies in imposing economic sanctions on Moscow and providing military aid to Kyiv.
“Several African countries launched a peace initiative last year in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.” A delegation of African leaders plans to visit Russia and Ukraine,” said the South African ambassador to Russia, as reported by Novosti.
For the claim that it is not Russia that is isolated but the West, the portal does not provide any evidence but only the statements of Russian state officials, such as the deputy ambassador of Russia to the UN and the minister of foreign affairs, Sergey Lavrov.
“Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted earlier this month that Western efforts to ‘isolate Russia’ have completely failed and that Moscow is building stronger relations with countries in Africa, the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere,” Lavrov said.
The text runs through the dominant narrative of Russian state officials, which has existed since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, that the sanctions did not bear fruit and that Russia found other allies. Russia has become the record holder regarding the number of sanctions imposed on the country and individuals by Western countries. Due to the consequences of the sanctions, the Russian authorities have invested a lot in the past two years in cooperation with China and especially countries in Africa.
On February 23 last year, only six countries of the United Nations voted against the non-binding resolution of the UN General Assembly calling on Moscow to withdraw from Ukraine. One hundred forty-one countries supported the document, while 32 abstained. The countries that voted against (Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea, Mali, Nicaragua and Syria) belong to the group of Russian-like autocracies and one-party dictatorships.
Although there is concern on the part of the Western public that the sanctions are not effective and that Russia has succeeded in replacing oil buyers in Europe with buyers on other continents, the New York Times writes that Russia is having problems acquiring key high-tech components and that terminated contracts with Western energy companies will deprive Russia of maintaining efficient oil and gas production.
The New York Times also states that Russia has managed to forge stronger ties with close partners and create a “new authoritarian alliance” with countries such as China, North Korea and Iran. “These countries assist Moscow in various ways. North Korea sends ballistic missiles to the war in Ukraine, Iran continues to send drones, and China, while refraining from exporting arms to Russia, allows equipment that the civilian population and the military can use,” writes the New York Times.
Autor: Sofija Popović
