The fallouts of Russo-Ukraine Conflict
Imtiyaz Ahmad Shah
From the outset, humans are surrounded by unshakeable and constant wars. The concept of war is clear to us—it brings destruction and brings us back to the place we never intended to be. We have read history, travelogues, and other past literary sources about the countries that fought and invaded other ineffective nations to grab their empire, resources, material things, and so forth, for their supreme strength and domination.
We have experienced and witnessed through the books how Balkan states were fiercely jealous of each other, and they tried to gain more territory at the expense of other tribes. The intense conflict created the most powerful state-to-state rivalry.
During this conflict, the Balkans became the subject of the city and the competition of the major powers. There was a great rivalry among European powers over trade, settlements, the navy, and military power.
However, Russia, Germany, England, Austro-Hungary were keen to counter the hold of other powers over the Balkans and tried to extend their domination over the region. This unprecedented round of wars in the area resulted in the First World War.
The history of the Russo-Ukraine war has deep sources and there are serious complications too. This is expected to be the start of the Third World War. Russia and Ukraine have their allies and whenever there is a threat of war, these allies can come forward to support their side. Russia is the biggest competitor compared to Ukraine because of its unparalleled nuclear strategies. We are all familiar with Russian-Ukrainian history. Ukraine was part of Russia, but eventually abolished the Russian imperial heritage and established strong ties with the West. What is it that Russia wants?
“It is more about what Russia doesn’t want. Russia doesn’t want Ukraine in NATO — and has said as much in its list of security demands, which were sent to the US last December. The demands included a halt to any NATO drills near Russia’s border.” (Al-Jazeera, 25 Jan 2022)
Centuries of bloodshed, foreign invasions, enslavement, et cetera, have plunged Ukraine into a state of desolation. Ukraine has continued to fight internal and external aggressions to safeguard its existence for centuries. The global fight between Russia and Ukraine can cause terrible damage to the world and because of this US, European Union, and the UK gathered and pushed their troops to some Ukrainian regions after announcing sanctions against Russia.
The greatest powers in the world have recognized Ukraine as an independent nation. Some problems have forced Russia to invade Ukraine, and one of the main problems is Ukraine’s ‘westward progression’.
Moscow, too, has forced Ukraine to abandon an agreement to strengthen ties with the European Union. The consequences of Ukraine’s move to the West may turn out to be a terrible invasion between countries. However, Russia is more than willing to invade its neighbour to claim the territory.
“On December 7, 2021, US President Joe Biden warns Russia of sweeping Western economic sanctions if it invades Ukraine.” (Al-Jazeera, 13 Feb 2022)
The prevalent conflict between Russia and Ukraine has acted upon global diplomacy, markets, politics, etc. Every other country is worried about the consequences the war could bring and how it can give birth to novel emergencies across the world. Trade, import and export, embassies, etc., will collapse once the war reaches the scene.
“The Russia-Ukraine Saga took another turn on Monday when the Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, as an independent. Following this, Putin ordered the deployment of the troops in these breakaway areas.” (Business Today Desk, Feb 22, 2022)
Donetsk and Luhansk are collectively known as the Donbass region and these regions separated from the Ukrainian government in 2014 and said these regions are independent. Prior to that, these regions, or we can say the separatist regions were not recognized by anyone until Putin’s statement appeared in their support.
After Putin recognized these two regions, Joe Biden on the other side imposed trade sanctions on the two secessionist regions known as Donbass. President Biden’s order alerts Americans to their new investments in these areas. A few days previously, Russia had declared that it had not yet decided to invade Ukraine.
However, Russian strategies are disguised, and their intent is not as clear as a full drink. We read how Georgia’s NATO aspirations were suppressed by the Russian regime, and the same tactics are applied to Ukraine. The crisis between Russia and Ukraine is on the brink of disaster, and if the turmoil between nations continues, global markets will be severely affected. Furthermore, Russia publicly sent online warnings to Ukraine and hackers are threatening that they will give way or attack Ukrainian banks, the defence sector, etc.
In these times of desperation and chaos, Ukraine needs someone who could hold back Russian power and defend Ukrainian sovereignty. We have discussed the upshots of the war. If this war happened and the allies of Ukraine retreated, the crisis could spread like a pandemic. India will be altered as well because there is a possibility of a higher oil price. The price of oil will surely rise as soon as the war starts.
“According to Moody’s, an escalation in tensions along the Russia-Ukraine border is likely to boost oil prices even higher than what they already are. The research firm also believes that this rise in oil prices cannot be sustained over a long period of time, ‘because of economies’ limited ability to absorb higher oil costs and continue growing.” (Business Today Desk, Feb 22, 2022)
In an article, ‘The Ukraine crisis: Its Impact on India’ by Deepak Sinha, he pointed out some lines, “If there is one lesson that Putin and the Russian military should have learnt from America’s disastrous intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan is that invasions are relatively easy to accomplish, but keeping restive and hostile populations under control is a wholly different proposition. In any event, Putin and his advisors must clearly remember the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan that ultimately led to its collapse. Surely, not worth the risk of repetition?”
In conclusion, if Ukraine is to survive, America must come forward to end the war through negotiations, or physical force. There is no doubt that if this war happened, it could be the end of Russia from the world map, or it could give rise to a bigger conflict. Consequently, countries must address this issue on a priority basis to defend against global destruction.
(The writer is a student of English Literature)
