How Russia’s attack on Ukraine violates international law
PBS NewsHourMar 05, 2022
Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Washington on Wednesday, where he met with US Pres. Joe Biden with the aim of strengthening the resilience and defense capacities of Ukraine. During his first foreign trip since the start of the invasion, Zelenskyy thanked "ordinary people, Americans." He is set to give a speech to Congress and hold a number of meetings later in the day.
Meanwhile, just hours before Zelenksyy landed in the US, the Biden admin. announced a further $1.85B package in military support for Ukraine, along with the first-ever shipment of a Patriot missile battery to Ukrainian forces from the US. The deal will include around $1B in weapons and about $850M in funding to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
This invasion is an egregious violation of international law. Putin's ultimate aim is to restore the Soviet empire, even if it takes massive bloodshed and false pretexts such as calling the 2014 Ukrainian revolution after an election a "coup". This unprovoked attack is the latest chapter in Putin's Orwellian attempt to rewrite history.
NATO and the US have ignored Russia's security concerns by breaking its promise not to expand eastward in return for German reunification. These concerns are legitimate and taking them seriously would have avoided the Ukraine tragedy.
There is a 15% chance that Ukraine will receive a security guarantee from another country before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.