Pavlo Hai-Nyzhnyk
Doctor of History, Leading Researcher of the I.F. Kuras Institute of Political and Ethno-National Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
DOI:
Abstract. The article examines russia’s aggressive policy towards NATO in general and the United States in particular in the context of its rhetoric on dismantling the so-called ‘unipolar’ world and the demands for transformation of the established security system, especially on the European subcontinent. We are talking about two of putin’s ultimatums that have become a marker of russia’s grand strategy in foreign policy. The first of them was an ultimatum to NATO, delivered in putin’s speech on 10 February 2007 at the International Security Conference in Munich, which effectively announced the beginning of a new Cold
War between russia and the West.
He accused the United States of an almost unrestrained, hyperbolic use of force in international affairs, military force, force that plunges the world into a whirlwind of successive conflicts, making political solution impossible. He also accused America of disregarding the fundamental principles of international law. In the end, the russian president concluded his speech with an ultimatum and warned the international community that russia would disregard international norms and obligations if necessary. Putin’s speech became the starting point of a new Cold War, which russia declared to the United States and the West.
The second ultimatum was documented and handed over to the US Secretary of State’s representative on 15 December 2021 in the form of a list of security requirements for russia and a draft Agreement on measures to ensure the security of the russian federation and member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Russia’s main demands were the withdrawal from the territory of countries that became NATO members after 1997 of all armed forces and military infrastructure of foreign states that have appeared there in the following years; the exclusion of further NATO expansion, including the accession of Ukraine and other states, etc. In fact, this ultimatum was a prelude to the escalation of the confrontation between the so-called West and the russian federation and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Keywords: vladimir putin, geopolitics, Cold War, russia-NATO.
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