The Conflict in Ukraine and Its Implications for the United Nations System of Collective Security

Abstract

Abstract The armed conflict following the decision of Russia to launch a “special military operation” in Ukraine has put under severe stress the whole system of collective security of the United Nations. The Security Council was deadlocked from the very beginning of the crisis by the Russian veto, and any operative decision by that organ proved impossible. The General Assembly was convened in emergency special session and, within the first year of the conflict, managed to adopt six resolutions, inter alia determining that the Russian military operation against Ukraine constituted an aggression and declaring the invalidity of the attempts by Russia to alter the status of the Ukrainian territory under military occupation. The International Court of Justice was the only UN principal organ that proved able to issue a binding order on the matter, by indicating provisional measures demanding the immediate cessation of hostilities. The present article considers the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on the functioning of the UN organs involved, the legal implications of the actions attempted by these organs to manage the crisis, as well as the legal hurdles that impaired the effectiveness of such attempts.