Article 2 (4) of the Charter of the United Nations reads, “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.”
Was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a violation of the Charter? Yes. Unfortunately, however, the Charter, a supreme international convention, has been violated multiple times in the past through invasions and military interventions not sanctioned by the UN, and coups carried out in numerous countries during the Cold War.
In an article titled “Serial US Violations of the UN Charter”, published in the May 2022 special issue of the International Review of Contemporary Law, the journal of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Marjorie Cohn elaborates on the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the interventions in Libya and Syria as violations of international law.[i]
The tragedy is that both Russia and the US are permanent members of the UN Security Council which, under the Charter, has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a violation of the UN Charter and international law but given that the so-called “rules-based international order” remains a myth and today’s world order is far from perfect, there are those like me, who believe that history could have been written differently.
Today, there are frequent references in the West to Beijing’s aggressive policy against Taiwan and military operations in the South China Sea. China, now a global power, has been the subject of years of aggression by Western powers, but it has so far refrained from such action against others. Hopefully, it will remain on that path and set an example.
The war in Ukraine has reached a critical stage. Russia has the upper hand on the battlefield. The failure of the US Congress to approve 60 billion dollars worth of military assistance to Kyiv has put Europe on the spot. After all, the EU is not a major military power but an economic one. They will not send troops to Ukraine, an option President Macron has recently refused to dismiss, but they can provide the funds for a steady supply of ammunition, military hardware, and economic assistance.
In 2014, NATO member states agreed to commit 2% of their national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defense spending, to help ensure the Alliance’s continued military readiness. So far, only 11 NATO countries have met this guideline. The figure is supposed to go up to 18 by the end of the year. However, at present, Europe is experiencing economic problems, and raising taxes or cutting public services to fund defense expenditures are not appealing options. A few days ago, the Guardian reported that a high-ranking source said, “For the last five to ten years it’s been all about cutting the defense budget. Every year; now that has changed.”[ii]
In Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany, living standards have gone down because after Russia invaded Ukraine its energy-intensive industries that were dependent on Russian gas had to turn to other sources. Recently, Mr. Habeck, Germany’s Economy Minister said the economy is in “troubled waters”.
And, according to a poll carried out in February in12 EU countries by the think tank European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Europeans support Ukraine in its war against Russia but only 1 in 10 think Ukraine can win, with most seeing a “compromise settlement” as necessary to end the conflict.[iii] In this connection, Le Monde has reported that a discreet but very real divide has opened up in Europe over the months: The northeastern part of the continent is on a war footing, on the front lines against the Russian threat, while further west and south other countries have taken a less existential view of the conflict.[iv]
Add to all that, the prospect of Mr. Trump’s return to the White House and reports of increasing opposition to President Zelensky.
Against such odds, the EU had to find a way of meeting its commitment to support Ukraine “as long as it takes”. Thus, on Friday, the European Council reviewed progress on the next concrete steps toward directing extraordinary revenues stemming from Russia’s immobilized assets for the benefit of Ukraine, including the possibility of funding military support. It invited the Council to take work forward on the recent proposals by the High Representative and the Commission.[v] Moreover, there are reports that some G7 members have already gone further than the EU and were looking at whether they could also use the capital of Russian assets, which includes gold, cash, and bonds, frozen in their countries. In brief, the West is considering fighting Russia with Russian money.
Again, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a violation of international law. However, using frozen Russian assets in the West to support Ukraine will also be a violation. It will set a most controversial example. It will rally Russians behind President Putin. It will provoke him to further expand Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine. It will push Russia and China closer. And it will come at a cost in relations with the Global South. After two years of war, this is the time to start thinking about a “compromise settlement ”.
The incredible death toll from the vicious attack on the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, perhaps to be remembered as “22/3”, is a reminder that there are other threats to focus on. This is also the time for the West to empathize with the people of Russia. It is worth remembering that after 9/11 President Putin was the first foreign leader to speak directly to President Bush. In that phone call, he expressed his condolences to the President and the American people and his unequivocal support for whatever reactions the American President Bush might decide to take. The Moscow massacre is a tragedy, but it can also be an opportunity for the resumption of dialogue between Washington and Moscow. This could be the moment for President Biden to pick up the telephone.
Note: This post was first published in diplomaticopinion.com.
[i] https://iadllaw.org/2022/06/serial-us-violations-of-the-un-charter-marjorie-cohn/
[ii] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/21/eu-leaders-urged-to-put-economies-on-war-footing-at-ukraine-negotiations?CMP=share_btn_url
[iii] https://www.politico.eu/article/europeans-think-ukraine-lose-war-russia-survey/
[iv] https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/02/26/war-in-ukraine-not-all-european-countries-view-russia-as-top-threat_6560936_4.html
[v] https://www.consilium.europa.eu//media/70880/euco-conclusions-2122032024.pdf?utm_source=dsms-auto&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=European+Council+conclusions%2c+21+and+22+March+2024
