Serhii Zubchenko
Candidate of Political Sciences, Chief Consultant at the Humanitarian Security Department of the National Institute for Strategic Studies
DOI https://doi.org/10.37837/2707-7683-2018-39
Abstract. The article analyses the place of political and legal values (in particular, the principles of international law) in the modern system of international relations. It is stated that Russia artificially creates hotbeds of instability and terrorism around the world to put pressure on certain states. Russia’s unlawful actions have also created a notable international precedent which goes beyond regional or continental security concerns. The author defines three main points: which state became the victim of aggression, who was the aggressor and how other states acted. Some current topical problems on the global diplomatic agenda, notably, concerning the international legal response to the Russian military aggression against Ukraine and acts of state terror-ism all around the world, carried out by Russia within the framework of the hybrid war, are highlighted. Considerations regarding the importance of trust as a vital element of interstate relations, the lack of which provokes conflicts, leads to the encapsulation of states, making it impossible for them to achieve sustainable and progressive development and to solve urgent common issues, are studied. It is noted that by the fourth year of the Russian-Ukrainian War some Western diplomatic circles have started to gradually analyze the Russian question, in particular, regarding the revision of the methodology for responding to Russian actions. The author stresses out that the issue of annexation of Crimea and Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine cannot be removed from the international agenda until the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the just punishment of the aggressor are restored.
To prevent the escalation of current negative geopolitical tendencies to the level of uncontrolled, it is necessary to follow a number of fundamental points, in particular the inviolability of the principles of international law, prompt response to obvious violations of this law, the inevitability of legal liability of violators of international law.
In this context, the author asserts the necessity to ensure absolute adherence to the principles of international law as “rules of the game” of the geopolitical club and “red lines”, going beyond which generates uncontrolled processes of global scale, as well as the need to maintain international sanctions against the aggressor country – the Russian Federation – and entities, individuals and groups, affiliated with the Putin regime.
Keywords: Russian military aggression against Ukraine, international law, political and legal values, principles of international law, diplomacy, foreign policy, national security, geopolitics, hybrid war.
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