The conflict in Ukraine is multi-faceted and not a black and white clash. For example, it can be a conflict between the brothers or a kind of civil war because of the two peoples’ interaction with each other throughout history. Without ignoring that a significant part of the Ukrainian people, especially in western Ukraine, have negative feelings towards Russia, something, I know in my several visits to Ukraine.
Russian leaders who led the post-communist changes had not addressed the Ukraine issue and resolved it in a way that would prevent future conflicts. The reason is probably that Russia itself was in chaos and collapse.
It is a proxy conflict between Russia and the NATO countries, a continuation of the war between the two camps, the Soviet Union and Russia today, the principal heir and the west, especially after the NATO alliance has expanded and includes most of them the former communist countries.
There are also political and legal aspects. Conflicts are often resolved through political consensus and not from a legal perspective. For example, in 1962, Cuba had the right to receive advanced Soviet weapons because it is an independent country and the decision-maker on its territory. But the matter was resolved by negotiation, and the Soviet Union withdrew its weapons from Cuba.
The point here is that we face a complex conflict in which multiple factors overlap.
Nevertheless, even in complex disputes, there is always the possibility of seizing the end of a thread and starting from it to solve the problem.
In my opinion, the golden rule for conflict resolution should be established on two grounds.
The first is to guarantee the territorial integrity of Ukraine. And regions with a Russian majority can have a solution such as autonomy, for example, within the Ukrainian state.
The second point is to address Russian security concerns and not underestimate them, as previously happened.
These two points represent, in my opinion, the pillars for moving towards a better future… War does not solve problems but somewhat complicates them. The poor die in wartime, and arms dealers are the beneficiaries of this. The poor in the world are now paying the price of the price increase, which is expected to rise by about twenty percent.
The Russian-Ukrainian war also threatens world peace because, if not resolved, it may develop into a devastating nuclear conflict.
Salim Nazzal is a Palestinian Norwegian researcher, lecturer playwright and poet, wrote more than 17 books such as Perspectives on thought, culture and political sociology, in thought, culture and ideology, the road to Baghdad
