Atlantic Council Program Assistant Ian Hansen writes for New Eastern Europe on the consequences of Russia’s interference in Ukraine:
What better way to appreciate the failure of the West to understand Vladimir Putin than to acknowledge that the European Union, Russia, Ukraine and the United States will meet in Geneva on April 17th to discuss Ukraine’s future. The Swiss city, of course, is synonymous with post-Second World War conventions that attempted to entrench different principles of international law associated with armed conflict.
Vladimir Putin has brazenly defied international norms by violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity with indirect but unmistakably attributable antagonistic actions. The repeated illegitimate tactics with increasing audacity also regrettably highlight the West’s failure to understand the Russian leader and his actions.