Russia’s peaceful hand against aggression

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Its role in ending Azerbaijan's war against Armenia may hint at a new
respect for the sovereignty of national borders.

November 10, 2020

By the Monitor's Editorial Board

Did Russia just do an about-face and embrace a core principle of the
international order?

On Monday, it brokered a settlement to stop one former Soviet state,
Azerbaijan, from forcibly taking more land claimed by another former Soviet
state, Armenia, in a brutal war that began Sept. 27. Moscow even sent troops
into the disputed area, known as Nagorno-Karabakh, to help keep the truce.

What makes the settlement interesting is that Russia, a country that used
force twice in the past 12 years to change the borders of neighboring
states, stood up to Azerbaijan's aggression. This could be a moment to
celebrate Moscow's apparent respect for the sovereign equality of other
countries even as it had practical reasons to intervene.

Among most member states of the United Nations, the prohibition against the
use of force to change borders lies at the heart of the U.N. charter. Indeed
that global norm accounts for the relative peace of the past seven decades
compared with the destructive world wars of the early 20th century. In 2008,
Russia violated the prohibition by taking Georgia's Abkhazia and Tskhinvali
regions. In 2014, it used force again to take over parts of Ukraine.

These actions under President Vladimir Putin have since hit Russia's
economy. The West has imposed sanctions and kept Mr. Putin at a diplomatic
distance. The U.N. General Assembly criticized Russia for its belligerency
against Ukraine. And Mr. Putin now faces domestic pressure to deal with
COVID-19.

Azerbaijan, which has used its oil wealth to buy new weapons, attacked
Armenian forces in September with Turkish support. Armenia, which is aligned
with Russia, has since suffered heavy losses on the battlefield. Russia is
also at odds with Turkey in a number of conflicts, such as in Libya and
Syria. All of this may have led Moscow to find a way to end the use of
brutal force by Azerbaijan in changing the current boundaries with Armenia.