A 2014 article by an author described as "anti-Israel" is being touted by the Russian Foreign Ministry in an attempt to justify the Ukraine invasion.
The Washington Free Beacon noted a Monday tweet by Russia's foreign ministry. The ministry wrote: "Why the Ukraine Crisis is the West's Fault" article by John J. Mearsheimer (@ForeignAffairs, 2014).
"The US & its European allies share most of the responsibility for the crisis. The taproot of the trouble is NATO enlargement."
The tweet linked to an article written for Foreign Affairs in late 2014 by Mearsheimer. In the linked article, Mearsheimer wrote: "According to the prevailing wisdom in the West, the Ukraine crisis can be blamed almost entirely on Russian aggression. Russian President Vladimir Putin, the argument goes, annexed Crimea out of a long-standing desire to resuscitate the Soviet empire, and he may eventually go after the rest of Ukraine, as well as other countries in eastern Europe…"
"But this account is wrong: the United States and its European allies share most of the responsibility for the crisis. The taproot of the trouble is NATO enlargement, the central element of a larger strategy to move Ukraine out of Russia's orbit and integrate it into the West."
The Free Beacon, describing Mearsheimer as "anti-Israel," pointed out that he is the co-author of the book: "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy." The outlet said the book accused Israel advocates in the U.S. of manipulating the American foreign policy establishment.
Macmillian Publishing, in a press release of the 2008 book, said that Mearsheimer and co-author Stephen W. Walt, "describe the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel and [argue] that this support cannot be fully explained on either strategic or moral grounds. This exceptional relationship is due largely to the political influence of a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction."