The Russian-Ukrainian Relations after 2014

Abstract

The Russian-Ukrainian relations have been undergoing an unprecedented change since February 2022 although these relations have not been perfect over the decades, since Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and the subsequent Russian–Ukrainian disagreements about Russian gas and the process of its transportation to Europe through Ukrainian territory. The repercussions of this crisis have been mixed with the American–Western hostility to the Russian Federation, which has always feared for its national security from the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance Organization (NATO) and its approaching to Russian territory. The West, led by the United States, is working hard to encircle Russia and isolate it from its regional and international surroundings. All this has influenced the escalation of the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, and the Russian special military operation in Ukraine has become a hybrid war led by Westerners and Americans against Russia on Ukrainian territory.