Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the prospects for its accession to the Euro-Atlantic structures

Abstract

As the title suggests, the article aims to analyse Russia’s aggression against Ukraine on 24 February 2022 and its causes, as well as to show the prospects for Ukraine’s membership in the Euro-Atlantic structures, i.e. the European Union and NATO. The undeclared war between Russia and Ukraine has been fought de facto since 2014, i.e. since the Russian Federation illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Since then, or actually even since 2008, i.e. since Russia’s aggression against Georgia, the West led by the USA has been promising Ukraine membership in NATO and the European Union; however, formal negotiations to achieve this goal have not been opened yet. In the article, the author tries to answer the questions why this is happening and whether Russia’s aggression against Ukraine will become an accelerator of its membership in the Euro-Atlantic structures. The main thesis is that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine will only have a limited impact on its accession to NATO and the European Union. However, the process will certainly speed up after the war ends, especially when Ukraine wins the war and Russia suffers a defeat.