Ukrainian MFA demands that Financial Times immediately conduct editorial investigation into appearance of materials about alleged smuggling of weapons from Ukraine

KYIV. Feb 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine demands that the Financial Times immediately conduct an editorial investigation into the circumstances of the appearance of materials regarding the alleged smuggling of weapons from Ukraine, which is disinformation to discredit military aid, said spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko.

“Financial Times article of February 6, 2023: Moldova’s PM calls for more EU help to curb Ukraine war smuggling. At the beginning of the article it is noted that now former Prime Minister of Moldova Natalia Gavrilița told the Financial Times that her country is ‘seeing an increase’ in the smuggling of weapons, people and goods from Ukraine against the background of the war,” he wrote on Facebook.

Further, the author of the material, as the Foreign Ministry spokesperson noted, immediately determines that “illegal smuggling of weapons, people and goods from Ukraine has been a major fear for EU countries since Russia’s invasion since last February, exacerbated by the vast amount of weapons supplied to the country over the past 11 months and the increased levels of people seeking to leave.”

“And now we look at the direct quote of the ex-head of the Moldovan government, which is given in the article: “We do not want to become a country where security threats grow, or there is increased . . . trafficking or illegal smuggling.” Gavrilița also says that Moldova needs EU support to ‘so we don’t allow these trafficking networks to grow.’ A completely legitimate desire of a representative of a country in whose territory there is a war. But does the Moldovan ex-prime minister speak directly about the facts of arms smuggling or its increase? No, she doesn’t,” Nikolenko says.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that the quotes of the former Prime Minister of Moldova do not correspond to the headline of the Financial Times material. In addition, the author of the article also does not provide any evidence of arms smuggling.

Also, according to Nikolenko, Ukraine has not received any confirmed information or concrete facts from the Moldovan side about the supply of smuggled weapons from Ukraine.

“This material of the Financial Times is another misinformation. Its goal is to discredit international military assistance to Ukraine. Russia is investing numerous resources to prevent the supply of Western weapons to our state against the background of a new offensive by the Russian army. It is obvious that the Financial Times article was supposed to strengthen the fear in the West that the weapons transferred to Ukraine would turn against the Western countries themselves, falling into the hands of criminal elements,” the spokesperson said.

The ministry added that last year the author had already published a similar article, in which he also manipulated the topic of alleged arms smuggling from Ukraine.

“We demand that the Financial Times immediately conduct an editorial investigation into the circumstances of the appearance of materials that have all the signs of disinformation in the interests of Russia,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.