There are many reasons why it was almost impossible to prevent a conflict that has been brewing for many years. The war between Ukraine and Russia was fueled by the 2013 crisis when the then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych rejected a deal to allow economic integration with the European Union. In 2014, Russian troops took control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea through military force but formally occupied the area after Crimeans voted in favor of joining Russia in a frivolous referendum. The move caused so much ethnic tension, which led two other regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, to hold referendums and declare independence from Ukraine. It is possible to say that after that, the military conflict became inevitable.
Since the capture of Crimea and other regions in Eastern Ukraine, violence has been escalating between Russian separatist forces and the Ukrainian military, causing the deaths of many citizens. In 2014, the conflict turned into an international crisis, but most people in the U.S. could never believe that the future actions of the president of Russia would be so aggressive and underestimated its power (D’Anieri 00:02:39). This is one reason why the world has not stopped Russia from launching a full-scale military attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022. While all this is happening, other countries have never directly confronted Russia for its actions. Some of them tried to put forward sanctions to show their disagreement with Russia’s actions (00:01:40). However, these states could not afford to become aggressive against this nation.
I think no country has directly confronted Russian through direct military combat because Russia has a large military. The situation becomes more complex given that Russia has nuclear weapons, so any strike against Russia by another country could lead to disastrous consequences (D’Anieri). What other countries have been able to do to try to stop Russia’s aggression has been military support of Ukraine by providing armory and economic sanctions against Russia, which appeared to be rather weak.
Work Cited
D’Anieri, Paul. “Ukraine Explainer.” www.youtube.com, Web.