5th Semester Bcom LL.B
As we all know the dismay we are going through after the blitzkrieg that Russia has been carrying out under the Putin administration perilously lurching towards Ukraine capital , both transgressing and denigrating the international laws and various global and regional accords including BRICS “Prohibition of Unilateral use of force policy” at the same time and clamoring about renouncing Ukraine’s NATO dreams to the world and its been 6 months.
Glance at history and deceitful aspirations :
As a prelude let us recall some segments of history , that this is not the first time Russia broke an international boundary after the post – USSR era. The whole world witnessed poignantly what happened in Crimea in 2014. Even though not successful , Minsk and Minsk 2 agreements and the infamous Normandy format peace talks led by Germany from staff level to ministry level were the results of the unruly and awry aggressions made by Russia that they’ve been consistently discharging just towards the Ukrainian borders. Another much unknown yet crucial territorial disagreement of Russia is with Japan over the Geo- politically fructuous and mineral rich Kuril Islands touching on historic events such as 1875 St. Petersburg Treaty , 1905 Russo-Japan war , Yalta Conference , 1951 San Francisco Treaty , a dispute which is still going on where Russia eventually withdrew from the Kuril peace treaty recently. Another important incident which cooked up the storm was The Sino – Soviet border conflict in 1969 over several hundred islands ( Now under Chinese control but still enduring disputes ) which opened the way for an undeclared ferocious armed conflict between both the nations for nearly 7 months ( Now the tensions have loosen up a bit as the table turned as the results of the recent drifts in the topology of the global geo-politics ). The primary thing to understand from all these incidents which dates back to grey-haired history is that it is not about a certain nation or against a certain landlocked geography but it is about the significant motive or whys and wherefores which drives them further to these ruinous acts. The rationale which ignites the hostile actions of Russia towards its selective neighbors has something to do with the past , some of which we’ve discussed above ( All of the above-mentioned areas / pieces of lands were once under the complete authority of Russia or USSR unquestioned ). And that past is pretty much related to its current leader Vladimir Putin who has his own axe to grind. As the possessor of a highly chauvinistic mindset , his lofty aspirations of transforming or more pellucidly “expanding” his mother nation’s political and geographical boundaries to what existed in the USSR period before 1990’s is an open secret as it has been trumpeted multiple times at the time of the election campaigns , Presidential oath and on several stages directly and indirectly.
Updates till now :
Back to Russia – Ukraine topic…In averse of this abnormal conundrum the EU and USA has been jointly imposing various economic , trade and diplomatic sanctions over Russia endeavoring to bring down the world’s colossal nuclear behemoth to its knees. For example, various EU nations, including Germany, which held the position as the largest consumer of Russian oil and gas have significantly brought down their dependence on Russia for Natural gas mainly eschewing the Nord Stream pipeline.
But….
If we take a look to the other side…. Russia has been unearthing copious alternatives to counter this. Some examples of this is the supply of Russian oil being rerouted to Asian nations like India and China ( Russia is now the 2nd largest supplier of oil to India after Iraq ) , strong drifts in substituting the SWIFT payment systems with the cooperation of many like-minded independent countries , Allowing subsidies and discounts to nations cooperating with them in trade along with the freedom of doing business using home currency etc. Keeping aside the thrust this will give to the economic , bilateral ties and geopolitical benefits with a global player like Russia to Asian economies positioning us more Hegemonic in the world map , The real question is….. Are these sanctions imposed by the west disquieting Russia even at a minuscule level ?…. Are these retributions so infructuous that the West needs to devise new plans to tackle the Russian Federation ?
A query of high priority :
If these so called “Sanctions” are merely ceremonial that deserves only flak…then isn’t it rational to assume that there is a propensity for other major global military powers can gain motivation from this event and carry on with this brazen-faced “Annex-culture” and literally evade almost all the penalties imposed by the rest of the world just like Russia ?
It’s Russia – Ukraine today. What if it’s China – Taiwan tomorrow ? Are the competent justice serving bodies across the globe including the UN and other multifarious organisations with colorful abbreviations stone blind on this matter or is it just merely apocryphal on whether they “serve justice” Or are they just spectacularly exceptional in “condemning” everything after all ? Is the world beleaguered in serving justice to a nation where the magnitude of catastrophe there is soaring that the government has to forcefully conscript their citizens by providing them arms to face a nation literally 2
Author Name: Abhijith PT
Email ID: mayaappu.2001@gmail.com