Serhii Zubchenko
PhD in Political Science, Chief Consultant of the Department of Humanitarian Policy and Civil Society Development, Centre for Social Research, National Institute for Strategic Studies, veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war
DOI 10.37837/2707-7683-2020-42
Abstract. The article analyses some international political aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as changes in the security environment due to the global spread of the coronavirus infection. The problem areas of national and international anti-epidemic measures are outlined. The author provides specific examples of malicious instrumental usage of COVID-19 by Russia to further destabilise the international legal order and achieve its foreign policy goals running the gamut from large-scale ‘active measures’ in the information space (in particular, to lobby the easing of sanctions for the illegal annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea and waging the war in Donbas) to political and military special operations. The article substantiates the inadmissibility of lifting sanctions and restrictive measures against Russia until the full restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity within internationally recognised borders and refusal of Russia’s leadership from the use of state terrorism methods. The author also articulates the need for a solidary consolidated response to emerging and chronic threats to international security, the implementation of common, scientifically-based, and rational measures, without unjustified restrictions on democratic rights and freedoms, to overcome the current COVID-19 pandemic, avoid the recurrence of similar crises in the future, and prevent the spread of other negative trends posing a clear and direct danger to international peace and security.
Keywords: Russian military aggression against Ukraine, international law, COVID-19, diplomacy, foreign policy, national security, geopolitics, hybrid war.
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