The ongoing crisis in Ukraine has increased the risk of long-term instability and chaos throughout Europe. After weeks of failed diplomacy, the situation took a turn for the worse when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to enter two rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine and declare them independent. Announced to recognize.
Putin then launched a formal attack on Ukraine, denying international law. This has created a dangerous situation that will affect the whole world.
The US-led Western community reacted immediately to Russia’s move, and Russia’s actions were strongly condemned by the US and its allies. The Ukrainian president has called on the international community to put pressure on Russia to end the war.
US President Joe Biden called Russian President Putin an aggressor and said he would have to pay the price for the war. Many other countries have also called for a reduction in tensions.
President Putin’s justification for this military action goes beyond the protection of Russian-speakers in Donbass. Russia has said in a statement that the move was aimed at “defending Russia from Ukraine”. He accused the West of using Ukraine as a tool against Russia.
For months before the crisis, Russia had been gathering troops on the Ukrainian border. Despite diplomatic efforts by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholes, Russia’s security demands have not been met. Russia’s demands included a promise to do the same
Ukraine will not join NATO alliance
Strategic weapons will not be installed in Ukraine and that
Ukraine and NATO will return to pre-1997 borders.
The demands were rejected by the United States and NATO.
The question now is whether Western sanctions in response to the Russian attack will pressure Putin to back down.
But before we think about it, let’s look at what happened 8 years ago. The reason is that Putin’s recent move is a continuation of the situation in 2014, which led to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.
This series of events began with the ouster of pro-Moscow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. He rejected strong ties with the European Union. He was ousted as a result of a Western-backed protest. U.S. officials and politicians also took part in the protests.
Moscow reacted strongly, and a few weeks later not only invaded Ukraine and occupied Crimea, but also supported pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. Putin later accused the United States of being behind the 2014 “uprising” in Ukraine.
A ceasefire agreement called Minsk I was signed in 2014 to end the fighting in Donbass, but it did not last. This was followed by the Minsk II Agreement in 2015, mediated by France and Germany. It also included constitutional amendments from Ukraine to give full autonomy and “special status” to Donbass areas where Russian is spoken.
In 2014, Henry Kissinger said that the “root cause of the problem” was that “Ukrainian politicians want to impose their will on areas of the country that do not want to be a state, and this is being done in a country where There are people who speak many languages.
The current Western sanctions on Russia are aimed at destroying its economy. The sanctions include restricting Russia’s access to international capital markets and freezing its assets abroad. Russian officials have rejected the sanctions, saying their country has long faced Western sanctions.
Putin has sought to protect the country’s economy from the effects of sanctions by increasing its foreign exchange reserves (30 630 billion) and other measures. Russia is the largest producer of oil and gas in Europe and a major exporter of important raw materials. This means that Russia could also hurt Europe economically.
Given this background, is there any scope for diplomatic action to resolve this crisis? At present, it is difficult for diplomatic efforts to prove fruitful. Russian forces are ready to occupy Kyiv and further sanctions have been imposed by the West, which has closed the door to diplomacy.
Russia has invited Ukraine to negotiate on the condition that Ukrainian troops surrender. The devastated Ukrainian government says it is ready to negotiate with Russia on NATO’s neutrality. But maybe now the water has gone over his head.
Europe, meanwhile, is preparing to deal with the economic effects of a crisis that could affect the global economy. Markets are in turmoil, with commodity shortages looming and crude oil prices hovering above 100 100 a barrel. This will increase inflation and will cause economic hardship to most countries in the West and the world.
Now there is no point in thinking that if the talks between Russia and the United States in January, the United States and its