Russia is trying to impose its brutal views on its neighbor by brute force, and this should worry everyone.
First of all, this war concerns fate 44 millions of Ukrainians. But among the ruins of Mariupol and Kharkiv is also at stake what the world will look like. Vladimir Putin has invaded Ukraine to force it to renounce rapprochement with the West and submit to the Kremlin's will.
He is convinced that large countries have the right to dominate smaller ones. Ukraine insists that it will choose its own allies. With Western support, it upholds the universal principle that all countries are sovereign. Whoever wins on the battlefield will determine how the whole world will continue to function, writes The Economist.
It is also important that outside the battlefield, the West loses in this battle. Most developing countries either support Russia's invasion or remain neutral. Some countries depend on Russian weapons, others feel unjustified nostalgia for Soviet greatness. But many also believe that the West is selfish, hypocritical and declining. And some parts of the world, although they do not support the invasion, believe that this is not their problem. This means that the world is moving in a very dangerous direction. On March 2, 141 countries in the UN voted in favor of a resolution condemning the Russian invasion. But the real picture is much more complicated.
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The Economist Intelligence Unit found that only a third of the world's population lives in countries that not only condemn Russia's behavior but also impose sanctions on it. Most of these countries are in the West. Another third of the world is neutral. In this category was India, and other dubious allies of the United States – Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The third and final category is countries that repeat Russian propaganda, justifying the invasion. China, for example, keeps repeating to Moscow that American “biolabs” allegedly exist somewhere in Ukraine.
In Putin's world, where the stronger is always right, the lack of broad support proves the decline of the West. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, when the United States became the only superpower, countries were not in favor of it because of ideological convictions. They wanted American support. Now US influence over smaller countries has waned amid China's rise. Talk of “decline” is exaggerated. However, there is some truth in them.
The West itself has made efforts to lose influence. Prior to Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the West seemed to have lost faith in the general principles it had formulated. After the Russian attack on Georgia in 2008, President Barack Obama rushed to “reset” relations with the Kremlin and focused on domestic politics. When Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons in Syria in 2013, Obama did nothing. A year later, Russia annexed Crimea and received only a slap in the face.
China and Russia are convinced that such a lack of self-confidence is a sign of the West's decline. Donald Trump's presidency has only strengthened those beliefs by undermining American alliances. Democracy in the United States is steeped in scandals and conspiracy theories. The EU often seemed completely obsessed with itself. Brexit was a complete fiasco for both those who supported it and those who opposed it. Poorer countries also find America and its allies selfish. Because they ask for solidarity only when it is to their advantage. At a time when China and Russia were distributing COVID-19 vaccines, the West was stockpiling doses itself. Countries that have become rich by burning oil and coal have begun to call on the world to step up its efforts to combat climate change. However, they themselves have not kept their promise to help poor countries financially so that they can give up fossil fuels and adapt to a warmer world.
Poor countries also consider the West hypocritical. Europe is talking about universal rights. But, gladly accepting millions of refugees from Ukraine, she turned down those fleeing the war in Syria. The United States and its allies invaded Iraq in 2003 without UN support. In the eyes of the West, Saddam Hussein was a bloodthirsty dictator who poisoned his own people with chemical weapons and attacked neighboring countries. Of course, Volodymyr Zelensky cannot be compared to him. But other rulers fear that if the West is allowed to take on the role of judge, jury and executioner, they cannot count on justice.
politics. The trouble is that developing countries are making a terrible mistake. After all, for them, the war in Ukraine also has its stakes. All the mistakes of the West do not outweigh the fact that in the system proposed by Putin, the peoples of these countries will suffer even more.
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The world that Putin seeks to build will be even more degenerate, selfish and immoral than the one that already exists. Ukraine can prove it. Putin's extravagant lie about the “Nazis” in Kyiv and all denials of the Russian military's involvement in the war are decadent. His bold claims that NATO “provoked war” by threatening Russia with enlargement in Central and Eastern Europe are selfish. Because no one forcibly dragged all the countries in the region into an alliance. They themselves chose NATO for their own security after decades of Soviet tyranny. And in Ukraine you can see the moral decline of Russia, whose soldiers torture, rape and massacre civilians.
What is worse is that Putin's belief in the legitimate domination of great powers is not limited to the battlefield. He is right in one thing: the successful use of force is at the heart of geopolitics. If Russia is allowed to win in Ukraine, intimidation, lies and manipulation will further penetrate the world of international agreements and laws. They will destroy all international agreements that they take for granted. However, the modern world is based on them.
Putin's vision may appeal to China, which is looking forward to building its own sphere of influence. Beijing already feels confident enough to dominate others. This vision is suitable for tyrants who want to exploit their countries with impunity and terrorize their neighbors. But such views are not suitable for leaders who really want the best for their peoples.
Now try to compare Putin's harsh views with those of Ukraine. Fighting Russian aggression, it has in fact become a beacon of democracy. Like the West, it is not perfect. But she is fighting for freedom and hope. Developing countries must not abandon their imperfect systems today. However, they must protect Ukraine from Putin and use their growing influence to help it prosper.
Earlier, CNN reported that the next key battle in the Russian-Ukrainian war would be Slovyansk. Because the city is of key strategic importance. If the enemy can take control of it, he will have the opportunity to surround the Ukrainian army in the Donbass.
In turn, the New York Times wrote that the battle for Donbas will be extremely cruel . It will be very different from the fighting on the outskirts of Kiev, Kharkiv and Sumy. Because here the enemy knows the area better. And its logistics chains are shorter.
See special topic: Russia would lose $ 135 billion if the EU imposed an embargo on oil, gas and coal – expert This is more than 1/4 of Russia's export revenue in 2021. The occupiers fired from MLRS at residential areas of Mykolayiv, there are victims There are no military facilities in the fired neighborhoods. Russia fired on all hospitals in the Luhansk region – Lyashko Where active hostilities, unfortunately, civilian medicine can not work. But military medics work there. Hungary could have secretly supplied weapons to Ukraine – NYT This has not been confirmed or denied in Budapest. Russia begins to threaten the United States – The Washington Post Experts are convinced that Moscow may still dare to attack convoys carrying weapons to Ukraine. This will be especially real if the occupiers lose the next stage of the war.
