By Maxime Pocat
On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine. Ukraine had been a former USSR state and gained independence after its collapse in 1991. Putin’s excuse to invade Ukraine was that he wanted to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine. Although this may not be the case. Putin has also put troops inside Crimea “to ensure proper conditions for the people of Crimea to be able to freely express their will”.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO for short, is an organization formed by 12 countries from Europe and North America on 4 April 1949. NATO was formed to provide collective security against the soviet union.
Due to Ukraine being formerly part of the USSR, it has made it harder for Ukraine to join NATO. Although not a part of NATO, along with the US, NATO has given approximately 72 billion dollars of financial, humanitarian, and military aid to Ukraine. Due to this, Ukraine has been able to fight back against Russia’s military. If Ukraine succeeds in defending itself, this may mean that Russia will not be able to invade more of its former states.
If Russia were to win the war, this could show that NATO is weak and countries like Iran and China could try and invade weaker countries as well. This would mean that there would be a weakening of democracy and strengthened autocratic and communist regimes around the world. Although this is unlikely to happen and the US will continue to fight back against these powers.