ARIZONA, USA — Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine Wednesday night, leading to military strikes in Ukraine.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken said Thursday that “all evidence suggests that Russia intends to encircle and threaten Kyiv, and we believe Moscow has developed plans to inflict widespread human rights abuses – and potentially worse – on the Ukrainian people.”
President Joe Biden says he is responding with new sanctions on Russia to isolate Moscow from the global economy. He says the sanctions will “impose a severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time.”
In response, Putin threatens a “painful” response to Biden’s sanctions.
THE QUESTION
Does the Russian invasion of Ukraine matter to the United States?
THE SOURCES
- Dr. Daniel Rothenburg; Professor of Practice, School of Politics and Global Studies
- Dr. Emily Channel Justice; director at Harvard’s Ukrainian Research Institute.
THE ANSWER
Yes, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will affect the world order. Now that the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Russia, the country will likely react in a number of ways.
WHAT WE FOUND
Russia’s conflict with Ukraine has been brewing for a long time. In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s concern grew when Ukraine’s pro-Russian government was overthrown. In response, Russia moved in troops to take Crimea in order to gain control of some parts of eastern Ukraine under the belief that Ukraine has no right to exist.
“So it's been a live war, since 2014. But what we're seeing now is really a conflict of an entirely different nature, the massing of 190,000 troops,” said Dr. Daniel Rothenburg.
Although the current military action is in Ukraine, the invasion can have lasting impacts on the U.S.
“It's essential that we understand that he's attacking, you know, not just a country that's an ally of the U.S. for many years. But our entire way of looking at the world. And if we let him do this, we're saying that autocrats can decide how the world works,” said Dr. Emily Channel Justice.
In the past, Putin has used cyberattacks to respond to Russian sanctions.
“I fear that the U.S. will be more negatively affected in the future by things like Russian disinformation and cyberattacks,” said Justice.
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