NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has alleged that Russia and China spread disinformation in pursuit of enhancing their influence and destabilizing the situation in the member countries of NATO and the European Union during the coronavirus pandemic
ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2020) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has alleged that Russia and China spread disinformation in pursuit of enhancing their influence and destabilizing the situation in the member countries of NATO and the European Union during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Russian and Chinese actors, both state and non-state, have disseminated a lot of information and propaganda distorting the truth. It is a wrong approach," Stoltenberg said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
According to Stoltenberg, there is"no other reason for such propaganda and disinformation" than attempts to influence political processes in NATO and the EU and to destabilize the overall situation in the world. He failed to provide factual examples, however.
Stoltenberg specifically addressed the issue of Russia providing assistance to Italy in fighting the pandemic. In his opinion, Russia has converted the help mission into a covert propaganda operation.
"I have mobilized NATO, and the allies did a lot to help each other fight the virus. In general, it is up to governments to decide whether to accept assistance from those who are willing to offer it. But it is important that help is not used for disinformation," Stoltenberg said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has earlier said that any opinions of Russia allegedly spreading fake news must come with actual facts to be valid.
In response to earlier allegations by several Western officials that Russia takes advantage of the pandemic to advance its geopolitical aims abroad, the Kremlin insisted on purely humanitarian nature of aid provided by Moscow to other countries for fighting the virus.
