Legal and Diplomatic Impacts of Russia’s Annexation and Withdrawal, Ukraine, Autumn 2022
International LawRussia-Ukraine ConflictBy LJ Howard, 3 October, 2022
RAUSI Research Brief Volume 3, Issue 3
The contrast of Russia’s formalized annexation of Ukraine’s sovereign territory 30 September 2022 with its strategic withdrawal of armed forces from Lyman in the Southwest corner of Luhansk Oblast (circled on map below) the next day demands diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analyses. This article offers an overview.
The absence of lawfulness and the lack of political and diplomatic adroitness in Russia’s state practice, which are apparent from its annexation of Ukraine’s sovereign territory by armed force, drive several outputs. They engender a constructive and effective collective defense regime advantageous to Ukraine that remains outside the legal bounds of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). They invite the international order to urgently revise the voting calculus of the UN Security Council concerning Ch VII resolutions, more so given developing situations elsewhere in the international community. They demand an update to the body of international law circumscribing the threat or use of nuclear force.
