The Ukrainian crisis of 2014 through the prism of a liberal approach

Abstract

Nowadays, the Ukrainian crisis is one of the most pressing issues of global geopolitics. The risk
of a military solution to the Ukrainian problem was not relevant in 2014-2017. In today’s realities, the threat
of war is seen by experts as one of the possible options. The geopolitical game is inflaming passions, with the
Western coalition led by the US on one side and Russia on the other. The article analyses the Ukrainian crisis,
considering the scale of the information war. Some researchers use the theory of liberalism in the study of
the political crisis in Ukraine. Thus, forming an incomplete picture of what is happening in the confrontation
between Russia and the Western block in Eastern Europe. The once closely related countries have changed their
foreign policy course dramatically after 2014. They have escalated from a stage of cooperation to a full-fledged
military conflict. Liberals emphasize the promotion of democracy and democratic values in the post-Soviet
region, thereby dragging former post-Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe into the Eastern Partnership
project. Moreover, NATO’s eastern enlargement program has not lost its relevance today. Russia’s tough stance
on NATO enlargement is clear. It is a direct threat to the security of the Eurasian region. Historically, Ukraine has
always had two trajectories of state development. The first trajectory involved joining European integration, and
the second one involved rapprochement with Moscow and the EAEU. The confrontation between Washington
and Moscow in the region of Eastern Europe took on a new phase after 2014, since then the degree of tension in
the region has been heating up every year.