Monday 21 Mar 2022 @ 15:38
Chatham House
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The cost of ceding advantage to Russia is far-reaching

EXPERT COMMENT

Putin’s attempt to replace Ukraine’s leaders with a government of Moscow’s choosing risks the future of European security and international democratic values.

While negotiations do offer some hope, Russia is still bombarding non-military assets, reducing cities to rubble, and committing war crimes against civilians in Ukraine – leaving eight years of largely successful nation-building and progress in governance, the economy and society already shattered.

The consequences of any Kremlin upper hand in diplomatic or military terms is that Ukraine as the world knows it now effectively ceases to exist. Regardless of a potential Russian diplomatic or military victory, any concessions to Moscow’s demands would block Ukraine’s ambition to be part of an international order based on democratic values, human rights, and good governance.

In addition, the economic and social cost of regaining any progress fuelled by the invasion in 2014 would be huge, while the installation of Kremlin-chosen political leaders would leave Ukraine existing only as a vassal of Moscow – and being kept in frozen-conflict limbo to destabilize Europe’s eastern flank and contribute geographically to Putin’s historical fantasies of ‘Novorossiya’.

Click here to continue reading the full version of this Expert Comment on the Chatham House website.

 

Channel website: https://www.chathamhouse.org/

Original article link: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2022/03/cost-ceding-advantage-russia-far-reaching

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