Ukraine and Russia: Conflict in Crimea
Introduction and background
This document speaks mainly of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine for the annexation of Crimea to Russia doing an analysis of important events and the position of each state. The main sides are Russia, Ukraine and Crimea, among other secondary actors who have also taken an important role in the conflict such as NATO and the United States, among others.
Crimea is located between the two states of conflict, therefore its geographical point has marked this series of conflicts since previous years, going through various situations such as interventions and conquests in the territory.
The territory of Crimea was Russian territory since 1783. From the birth of the Soviet Union, its denomination to autonomous is transferred but in relation to Ukraine, but after the fall of the Soviet Union, Crimea remains as Autonomous Territory of Ukraine.
The recent dispute between Russia and Ukraine about Crimea attracted wide international attention. Europe in general has been a continent victim of different conflict throughout history, where due to its ideological, political and military influence, wars have been manifested that consequently carry out the disintegration of certain states of Europe of this and creationof new ones that are currently or in the process of being recognized internationally, that some of them were ex -Soviet or Soviet influence. In this case there will be talk about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine about Crimea.
Due to Crimea’s geographical location, he has been the victim of different invasions and conquests, such as the Ottoman Empire, for example, that at that time Russia had been victorious in the wars with the Ottomans and with them expanding and annexing land to the Russian empire, andCurrently the most recent conflict that Russia has with Ukraine, showing that Crimea has only been declared as an independent state for a short time.
The different conquests, annexations wars, regime changes, among other issues, have made Crimea constantly see both political, demographic and cultural change mainly. As in the beginning, due to the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish ethnic empires that existed in the territory were practicing Islam but with the arrival of the Russians in the territory in the 19th century, they brought their own institutions and practices of other religions as mostly the Orthodox Christian. For the twentieth century, in the year that ended World War II, ethnic minorities, all those who were not Russians, were deported and expelled. However, in 1991 they were allowed to return to the territory of Crimea.
It could be said that the conflict with Crimea begins in 1991, consequently after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which is an ethnic-cultural matter between Russians, Ukrainians and Tartos. There is no doubt that Crimea has long been part of Russia and successively of the Soviet Russia, so it could be said that Crimea has been closer to Russia than to any other empire or state that has intervened in the territory in the territory.
An important event after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a referendum was given in the Soviet Union but caused a separation of what was the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine and Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus of the Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of Russia of RussiaAnd where Crimea was as an Autonomous Republic in Ukraine. In the referendum, the population of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was not consulted about whether they wanted to remain in Ukraine after the dissolution of the Soviet Union or if he wanted to return to Russia. With the coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachov in Crimea, it had its consequences on the direction that the Soviet Union would take.
Without the approval of Ukrainian authorities, there was a change in the name to the Republic of Crimea that was previously an autonomous Soviet socialist republic of Crimea. Consequently in May 1992, Crimea’s Parliament proclaimed Crimea’s independence and approved its first Constitution but by mid -May of the same year, the declaration of a Crimean government was rejected by Ukraine.
All of the above mentioned have been a history of what is currently known from the conflict, which comes from the secession of Crimea to Ukraine and then its annexation to Russia, causing disagreements and certain tensions between both states.
Start of conflict
Since 2008, at the summit of Bucharest, NATO has promised Ukraine. And it is that precisely before the desire for annexation Ukraine was through certain interests that he had in an attempt to take a path to the west, but with the arrival of Victor Yanukovich to the presidency in Ukraine, at the end of 2013 Victor Yanukovich suspends the agreementof association with the European Union, exploding a series of protests against the president. The president was closely related to Russian security services and together with other Ukrainian officials, he fled Ukraine in February 2014.
That same month and years, clashes between pro -Russian and pro -prosecuting protesters were carried out in Simferopol. Where the Prouds demanded the secession of Ukraine. The Russian forces intervened militarily carrying out both military and communication blocking in the Crimea area so that an intervention by Ukraine did not occur. Russia succeeded in the operations raised. However, to date, Russia is declared as guilty of an illegal military intervention in Crimea.
On March 16, 2014, another referendum was carried out with respect to the reunification of Crimea to Russia where it was supposedly approved peacefully and orderly, but that nothing was reached in concentrate since, the referendum only mentioned on two optionsestablished as if Crimea must join Russia or be part of Ukraine but omitting whether it could be an independent nation of both.
Russia was taking a critical role on Crimea, since its population was undergoing a lack of information and dissemination of the media and this thanks to the intervention of the Russians who controlled every medium medium. Also, another critical point is that within Crimea, on the part of the Ukrainian population that resides there they threatened the Russian population to attempted force use, such as physical and verbal threats, although both pro -Russian and pros Ukrainians were victims of everythingthe conflict.
According to ABC International news (2014): “96.77 percent of the population of the Ukrainian region of Crimea has voted in favor of the adhesion of the province to Russia, according to the definitive figures given today by Mikhail Málishev, chiefof the Electoral Commission of the Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea."However, the official figures for the participation of voters and the approval index could not be verified by odd international observers and were probably artificially inflated to legitimize the incorporation of Crimea into the Russian Federation.
The main problem wanted to solve the Russians who lived in Crimea was that they no longer wanted to be considered as a minority in Ukraine and did not want to be forced to learn another language that was not even theirs. That is why the Pro Russians were promised some economic and social benefits, as with respect to a better quality of life.
On March 17, 2014, Crimea declared its independence. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (2014), he mentions that Crimea’s Parliament formally declared the independence of that Ukraine Peninsula and requested to be part of the Russian Federation. The measure occurs after this Sunday’s referendum in which 97% voted in favor of ceasing to be Ukrainian territory. The kyiv government has said that it will not recognize the results of the consultation. The United States and the European Union consider that the referendum was illegal and analyze sanctions to impose Moscow.
In the Crimea conflict there are three actors involved throughout the subject, which are Ukraine, Russia and of course Crimea.
The conflict over Crimea has developed in an international environment that included other important actors. “Ukraine has borders with five countries in Central Europe (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova), with two countries of the extinct USSR (Russia and Belarus) and with much of the northern coast of the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. This privileged geopolitical position in Eurasia, which explains its role as the main step of Russian gas to Europe, also explains EU’s interest in attracting it to its area of influence and away from Russia;as well as the interest of the United States and NATO in moving towards it.”(Garcia, 2014)
The first main actor who is Ukraine has been victimized by the interventions by Russia since part of its territory that was already recognized internationally was occupied by Russian Armed Forces and so that it was finally annexed to the latter. The actions taken by the interim government of Ukraine has been somewhat peaceful or simply of non -intervention to avoid the violation that could have been generated in a greater term. So it could be said in a convincing term that Ukraine surrendered to Russia for the annexation of Crimea. As a result, Ukraine lost a certain part of its territory and with it losing important deposits such as oil and obviously the military control that was in Crimea.
On the other hand, Russia has carried out certain acts of violation in the matter of the annexation of Crimea and the way in which it was carried out. Act that was taken as a clear violation of art. 2, paragraph 4 of the United Nations Charter, which states that “the members of the organization, in their international relations, will refrain from resorting to the threat or use of force against territorial integrity or political independence of anyState, or in any other form incompatible with the purposes of the United Nations."All this leads to Russia violation agreements between this and Ukraine that were established since previous years.
Even so, Russia takes as justification to his actions the fact of having acted in favor of the right of Crimea and his desire to join Russia and also justifying himself in the sense that Russia, according to history has had more influence on the territory of whatAnother nation would have had before, such as the conquests and interventions that they gave it over the years.
The annexation of Crimea to Russia has represented both advantages and disadvantages towards Russia and Crimea equally. For Russia there has been a great advance in the capacities of its influence with power and also due to annexation, let see how an achievement thanks to the support of the Russians. However, the Russians in Crimea have been little favored because they still live a territory where revolts can manifest by the Ukrainian population and other minority ethnic groups. And consequently the annexation has charged Russia of some consequences such as the sanctions by Western actors.
Last and not least, Crimea has been the sight of the conflict or rather the point of manifestation of the conflict. Before their separation from Ukraine, Crimea and ethnic Russians, like no other Russian minority in the ex -Soviet republics, they had enjoyed very important autonomy and protection of human rights and fundamental freedom. If you had the right to exercise this right, it is a debatable legal proposal. In addition, most Russian speech in Crimea has expressed and exercised this right in a relatively peaceful way. The two considerable minority communities, Ukrainians and Tartos, apparently accepted the desire of the Russian majority. These facts confer some legitimacy to the secession of Crimea and their reunification with the Russian Federation.
For a long time there has been an opposition by Russia about the integration of Ukraine towards the West for an economic and political improvement in the state, giving rise to Ukraine to be part of NATO, or at least that is what they have comepromising.
President Vladimir Putin clearly declared the geopolitical foundation of Crimea’s annexation. According to the news of El País (2014) in the Opening speech Putin had assured that Crimea is "Russian Holy Land" and opined that, in Ukraine, the United States and its western partners passed from the line. "Everything has a limit" and Washington "transferred it" in the neighboring country, he said, accusing him of being accustomed to acting according to the law of the strongest.
Putin recalled that precisely in Crimea Prince Vladimir. He also referred to the transfer to Ukraine of provinces in southern Russia after the Bolshevik revolution, which followed the delivery of Crimea, which was made in 1954 without consulting the people. This "theft of Russia" was made without even complying with the legal formalities demanded by the constitution of the time. It is true that, he acknowledged, at that time it was a practically formal act, because it was carried out inside a great country and no one could imagine that one day Russia and Ukraine would separate. President Vladimir Putin’s statement expressed the main motivation of Russian leaders: annexation avoided the possible inclusion of Crimea in the North Atlantic Treaty Area.
The occupation and annexation of Crimea has caused a vivid reaction in the international community, in the form of diplomatic protests, statements and resolutions approved by international organizations, among other things. On March 27, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly (2014), adopted a resolution on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The resolution condemned the annexation of Crimea, said the ‘non -valid’ referendum and appealed to the international community not to recognize changes in the state of Crimea. A majority of a hundred members of the UN supported the resolution, while 11 voted against.
Members of the European Union and NATO, announced their point of view on the actions taken by Russia in Eastern Europe, speaking specifically in Ukraine where the Foreign Ministers of NATO Member States condemned Crimea’s annexationAnd they qualified it as illegal and illegitimate.
At the beginning of September 2014, NATO asked De Russia to annul. In another matter, NATO decided to help Ukraine.
The United States and the European Union expressed economic and political sanctions aimed at the Russian people residing in Crimea. Putin believes that the United States has used Crimea’s issue as a justification for the application of sanctions and weakening of Russia, in the United States insists for the application of sanctions against Russia.
Although you know any type of sanctions application, it is clear that the conflict currently does not have a stable solution yet, no sanction will make Crimea again be part of Ukraine. So the sanctions are in vain. No radical or even long -term change has been seen in Ukraine.
This conflict is called as a conflict, due to the acts that Russia performed abruptly before the intervention in foreign territory, still a war was not reached in its entirety, since Ukraine took a passive posture, and having totallyotherwise serious consequences would have been triggered.
Foreword?
Most of the international community does not recognize the annexation of the Russian Federation and considers that the Autonomous Republic of Crimea still belongs to Ukraine. In April 2014, the Ukrainian Parliament declared Crimea and Sebastopo. In December 2014, his government suspended all rail connections to Crimea, disconnecting them from Ukraine. Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian Prime Minister, on the other hand, declared that the current state of Crimea is a ‘closed chapter’ not negotiable. The political and legal confrontation between Ukraine and the Russian Federation will undoubtedly continue to create an additional frozen conflict in Europe.
Bibliography
- ABC International. (2014). 96.77% of Crimean voters support adhesion to Russia. Obtained from: https: // www.ABC.ES/INTERNACIONAL/20140316/ABCI-CRIMEA-REFERENDUM-BY.HTML
- United Nations General Assembly (2014). The General Assembly approved a resolution on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. UN news. Obtained from: https: // news.a.org/es/story/2014/03/1297641
- The country. (2014). Putin signs Crimea’s annexation to Russia. Obtained from: https: // elpais.com/international/2014/03/18/current/1395125826_603105.HTML
- Garcia, e. (2014). Crimea, Ukraine and the Russia-Occident conflict: what is played in the world? Public reason. Obtained from: https: // www.Public Reason.com/index.PHP/Internacional-Temas-32/7498-Crima, -ucrania-and-the-conflict-Russia-Occident-%C2%Bfqu%C3%A9-Se-Juega-in-the-Mundo.HTML
- The British Broadcasting Corporation (2014). Crimea formally declares its independence from Ukraine. BBC News. Obtained from: https: // www.BBC.com/world/ultimas_noticias/2014/03/140317_ultnot_ucrania_parlamento_rusia_crimea_mz
- United Nations Organization, Art. 2, paragraph 4 of the United Nations Charter obtained from: http: // www.a.org/es/sections/un-charter/chapter-i/index.HTML
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