Nah, the western mainstream narrative was that Russia just invaded Ukraine completely unprovoked in February last year.
Lol, wat? Western mainstream sources have been covering the conflict since 2014.
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-timeline-idUSBREA270PO20140308
- https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/russias-putin-took-european-states-surprise-ukraine-report-n309406
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26248275
- https://news.sky.com/story/us-russian-military-firing-into-ukraine-10395472
“The atomic unit of propaganda isn’t lies, but emphasis.”
You can find good coverage on the past decade of the region, but the overpowering narrative is that of an unprovoked attack.
That’s a very narrow interpretation. Those headlines do not suggest that the Western media was reporting that everything was fine in the region but then Russia attacked; it means that the conflict escalated into a full blown invasion of Ukraine instead of merely occupying Crimea/Donbas.
Even one of the top links in your search result says:
For eight years, brave Ukrainians fought and died for that dream after Russia invaded Crimea and the Donbas region. Today, as a result of President Putin’s flagrant disregard for human life and Ukrainian sovereignty, many more will suffer. But the dream—and America’s support for it—will never die.
None of these sources are talking about NATO involvement in Ukraine since 2014, nor acknowledge the role NATO played in creating the conditions for the conflict.
The conflict starting and NATO involvement in it are two separate things. Your post only addressed the former, not the latter. It is no secret for those who have been paying attention that the conflict did not start last year.
What Stoltenburg said is:
And since 2014, NATO Allies have provided support to Ukraine, with training, with equipment, so the Ukrainian Armed Forces were much stronger in 2022, than they were in 2020, and 2014. And of course, that made a huge difference when President Putin decided to attack Ukraine.
This doesn’t seem to contradict any previous statement about NATO’s support for Ukraine that I am aware of.