#Ukraine's leaders have reiterated that they have no plans to advance into Russian-backed separatist territory, and have ordered their forces to exercise restraint in responding to fire from Russian-controlled territory. /2
#Ukraine's leaders have invoked the #OSCE Vienna Document process as a way to build confidence through increased transparency. But #Russia has refused to cooperate at all. /3
One side claims no desire to escalate, and invites outside observers.
The other claims the same, but refuses them.
This fact should be kept in mind whenever considering any claims coming out of the #Kremlin about #Ukraine's supposed intentions. /4
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
As someone whose research focuses on the just war traditions, I think it’s worth stating – firmly – that a reasonable argument cannot be made to justify a Russian invasion of #Ukraine. /1
Within the Christian just war tradition, there are 6 principles to consider, not as checkboxes to be ticked, but as concerns to be weighed against one another.
These include legitimate authority, just cause, right intent, proportionality, likelihood of success & last resort. /2
The content of these principles varies somewhat over time and between the Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant traditions, but the commonalities are much more significant than the differences. /3
Thinking about the two big #disinformation stories swirling about today, we can see that little attempt is being made to make the narratives particularly credible. /3
The #Kremlin signals with one hand that it’s interested in diplomacy — and perhaps it is — but with the other it’s continuing to ratchet up the pressure on #Ukraine, through political maneuvering, #disinformation operations, and #cyber attacks. /1
Today the Duma voted to ask #Putin to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as independent states. If Putin does so, the Minsk peace agreements would be effectively made void. /2
The language used to describe this action in Pravda is especially telling. Note the claim that this action is “morally justified,” and more important the claim that recognition will “protect” the population from “external threats” and “the policy of genocide.” /4
@peterpomeranzev’s choice of words here is excellent. The old slogan, “For Your Freedom and Ours” is meaningful not just in #Lithuania, but in the region more broadly.
And it captures an important point for today’s situation: freedom, like security, is indivisible. /1
One of the early movements calling for democracy in Poland (in the 1970s) invoked the phrase; counter-protesters demanding a return to a more liberal democracy marched under it in 2017. /3
It seems the lower house of the Duma will consider two draft proposals on Tuesday— one calling directly in Putin to recognize Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics and a second one asking Putin to consult with the Defense and Foreign Ministries first. /1
Recognizing the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics would eliminate the Kremlin’s need for the pretense that this is an internal Ukrainian problem that the Kremlin is merely concerned about as a neighbor. /3
Ukrainian shipping has been affected by Russia’s wide-ranging exercises in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, which effectively blockaded Ukrainian ports. The latter has now been reopened: exercises continue in the former. /3