Germany accuses Russia of propaganda

Germany accuses Russia of distorting Burbock’s comments about Russia’s war for ‘propaganda’ purpose.

Russia twisted the German foreign minister’s comments about the war in Ukraine for propaganda purposes, a German foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday (January 27th), underscoring Berlin’s position that NATO should not become a party to the conflict.

Speaking at an event in Strasbourg on Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said that “we are waging a war against Russia, not against each other,” thereby infuriating Moscow.

She made the comments a day before the German government announced it was arming Ukraine with advanced Leopard tanks, dismissing earlier warnings that such a move could prompt Moscow to escalate the war.

Moscow’s response

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Burbok’s comments an evidence that the West is waging a “deliberate war against Russia,” in a telegram cited by the state-run TASS news agency on Wednesday.

“Russian propaganda constantly uses the statements, verdicts, positions of the government, our partners and uses them for its own purposes,” said the spokesman of the German Foreign Ministry.

Ukraine and Western allies say Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24 last year, is an unprovoked war of aggression to seize territory. Moscow asserts that the West is using Ukraine to weaken Russia’s own security.