Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 09/02/2022
In their clickbait headlines, some websites presented the opinion of a Russian analyst as a “message” from Russia to the United States and the NATO alliance to “withdraw troops from Texas, Kosovo, Croatia and BiH”.
On February 3, 2022, an article titled “a shocking message from Moscow” was published on the Web tribune website:
A SHOCKING MESSAGE FROM MOSCOW: First withdraw the army from Texas, Kosovo, Croatia and BiH and then we can talk…
Websites Doznajemo and Crni bombarder published the same articles with identical headlines, while Nacionalist and Srbija javlja stated in their headlines that it was “a shocking message from Russia”. Such headlines lead to the conclusion that Russia sent an official message to someone with the content stated in the headlines.
On other websites, such as the tabloids Alo and Informer from Serbia, the headlines also state that “a strong message” was sent to the “Americans”, i.e., “Washington”:
A STRONG MESSAGE FROM MOSCOW TO AMERICANS: Withdraw the army from Kosovo, so we can talk (Alo, 3.2.2022)
LET’S GO LIKE THIS, RUSSIA WILL WITHDRAW THE ARMY FROM THE CRIMEA, AND THE AMERICANS WILL CLOSE BONDSTEEL AND LEAVE Texas! Moscow takes off its gloves, messages to Washington are… (Informer, 4.2.2022)
All these headlines imply that Russia sent an official message to the United States of America (USA) with a request to withdraw troops from Texas, Kosovo, as well as from Croatia and BiH.
What are the facts?
The statements of the Russian military analyst Konstantin Sivkov are shared in all articles. He spoke about the responses of the United States and the NATO alliance to the requests made to them by Russia regarding the current situation in Ukraine. In the article, Konstantin Sivkov, signed as a “Russian expert”, expresses his view on the documents published by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, in which the US and NATO offer Russia “dialogue on arms control and measures to prevent incidents in exchange for de-escalation in Ukraine and withdrawal of Russian troops and peacekeepers from Crimea, Transnistria, South Ossetia and Abkhazia”.
The article featuring the statements of Konstantin Sivkov, a Russian specialist in military and geopolitical issues, was originally published on February 2, 2022, on the website Sputnik, from where it was shared by all the previously mentioned websites. The article states:
Just as the United States is asking Russia to withdraw its army from Crimea, Moscow can demand that Washington withdraw troops from Texas. If Washington demands the withdrawal of peacekeepers from Transnistria, Russia can request the closure of Bondsteel in Kosovo and Metohija and the withdrawal of troops from that southern Serbian province.
That is how the Russian expert Konstantin Sivkov commented on the response of the USA and NATO to Russia’s proposals on security guarantees, which were published by the Spanish newspaper “Pais”.
(…)
“We have recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, where we have our stations, based on an agreement on mutual cooperation, while only in Transnistria we have peacekeepers… So, now we can also say – come on, we will withdraw troops from Transnistria, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but you rebuild Yugoslavia completely. Withdraw your troops from Croatia, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, remove the troops from Kosovo and Metohija, which you also bombed and whose separatists you armed. Let’s start with that”, Sivkov points out.
An article on the website Sputnik, and all other articles mentioned, state that Sivkov believes that “Moscow can demand that Washington withdraw troops from Texas” and that “Russia can demand the closure of Bondsteel in Kosovo and Metohija and the withdrawal of troops from that southern Serbian province”.
Therefore, there are no “messages to the Americans from Moscow”, i.e., no one from Russia has officially asked the United States to “withdraw the army from Texas, Kosovo, Croatia and BiH”, as it is concluded from the previously mentioned headlines. It is clear from the text that these are statements by analysts, not officials.
It is also clear that this is a statement that speaks of a hypothetical situation, that is, that Russia “can” ask for something, and not that it will do it or has already done so. However, in the titles of the mentioned websites, the statement was incorrectly formulated so that it looked like someone’s request, which is not in its original form.
The article on the website Sputnik, unlike the website that shared the article, is equipped with a title from which it is clear that it is a hypothetical situation, not a request, and in which there are no allegations of messages from Moscow or Russia to the “Americans” or Washington :
If Russia is to withdraw troops from Crimea, Americans should leave Texas and close Bondsteel
What document was Sivkov talking about?
The conflict between Ukraine and Russia began in 2014, when former Ukrainian pro-Russian-oriented President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted for deciding to refuse to sign an agreement on rapprochement with the European Union, according to an Al Jazeera’s article from January 25, 2022. Russia reportedly responded to the removal of Yanukovych from power due to his ambitions to move closer to Russia by annexing the Crimean peninsula, and by providing support to the rebel group in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine and the West have accused Russia, according to Al Jazeera, of backing the group militarily, but Russia has denied it. On the other hand, Russia criticized the United States and NATO for providing weapons and conducting joint exercises in Ukraine.
During 2014, armed conflicts were fought between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country, where a large number of people lost their lives. After five months of armed conflict, Ukraine and the separatists signed the Minsk Agreement in September 2014, the provisions of which included the exchange of prisoners, the delivery of humanitarian aid and the withdrawal of heavy weapons, according to Reuters’ article from December 2021. In February 2015, the Minsk 2 agreement was signed, the provisions of which, among other things, included the withdrawal of foreign troops from Ukraine, the return of control over state borders to the Ukrainian government, and the withdrawal of heavy weapons. Most of the provisions were never implemented, and sporadic conflicts continued.
An important element of this conflict is the fact that Russia does not want to allow Ukraine to become a member of the NATO alliance, which Russia demanded in December 2021. Russia has also started amassing its troops on the border with Ukraine, which is why it is believed that they are planning an armed conflict with Ukraine, according to the mentioned article by Al Jazeera.
As stated in the article from February 2, 2022, published by a Spanish newspaper El Pais, the United States and NATO rejected Russia’s request from December 2021 and the signing of a bilateral agreement on security in Europe with Russia, as well as closing the door to Ukraine’s future accession to NATO. According to El Pais, this is stated in two confidential documents sent by Washington and NATO to Moscow.
According to an article from February 2, 2022, published by the Russian news agency TASS, “The United States and NATO have offered Moscow dialogue on arms control and measures to prevent incidents in exchange for de-escalation in Ukraine and the withdrawal of Russian troops and peacekeepers from Crimea, Transnistria, South Ossetia and Abkhazia”.
Commenting on the allegations from the documents, Sivkov gives the mentioned statements about a hypothetical scenario in which Russia can ask the USA and NATO to remove its troops from certain areas, just as they ask Russia to do so.
Therefore, this is not an official “message from Moscow”, but a hypothetical situation that a Russian analyst is talking about.
According to the facts, we assess the manipulative titles in which a part of the incorrectly formulated statement is shared, and which imply that it is an official message, as clickbait and disinformation.