DOUBTS ABOUT WESTERN POLICY ON Russo - Ukrainian war

This article aims to answer the question of why and what doubts exist about the West's policy regarding the Russia-Ukraine war. It examines various aspects of the Russian-Ukrainian war based on the approaches of the liberal and realist schools of international relations theory. The author starts from a position accepted by both schools of thought, saying that Russia has launched a war against Ukraine without a declaration of war and without any need for self-defense, which constitutes aggression under the UN Charter. Support for Ukraine is therefore a moral obligation for all democratic states, but the nature and extent of that support is a matter for each state to decide. The author finds that the EU and NATO collective support seems contrary to this position and opposite to the organizations' missions. The EU's mission is to ensure the economic development of the member states while NATO provides military protection for its members and operates on their territories. Supporting non-NATO member Ukraine with weapons, training, and intelligence in the absence of a realistic Russian military threat to Europe calls into question the legitimacy of the Alliance's policy. After a thorough analysis, the author concludes that the West's policy towards the war in Ukraine, based on all-round support for Kyiv and a constant increase in sanctions against Moscow, is not working: it is failing to bring Russia to its knees, Ukraine cannot regain its lost territories, but it is succeeding in encouraging the development of a Russia-China-Iran axis and a Russia-North Korea partnership. The author argues that the time has come for the West to focus on finding a mutually acceptable compromise for the opposing parties that ends the war and prevents the outbreak of a new one. This paper is connected to a previous research article by the author „Political and Military Lessons of the Russian Ukrainian War” published in SCIERA Journal of Sociology, Volume 7, Issue 5, October 2023. The research is based on both qualitative and quantitative research methods.