Putin's political and moral impertinence
Even if Russia's president does not allow his troops to march into Ukraine, he has crossed borders. The sanctions against him should be implemented. So if Vladimir Putin's troops don't invade Ukraine this Wednesday, as predicted by the American secret services, will everything be fine again? What if they don't invade in the next few days, if they don't invade at all, but return to their barracks from the Ukrainian border? Is everything okay then? No, then nothing is good. It is true that there is no element of coercion in international law. But the principle of the general prohibition of violence applies, enshrined in Article Two, Section Four of the UN Charter. This ban on violence includes not only the use, but also the threat of violence. Otto Luchterhand, emeritus professor of international law at the University of Hamburg, comes to the conclusion in an as yet unpublished analysis: "The threat of the use of military force, i.e. the encirclement of Ukraine b...