There and Back Again, Russia’s Evolving Approach to the Freedom of Navigation
Journal: Baltic Yearbook of International Law Online
Year: 2024

Abstract A State’s position on international law is “determined by the basic principles of its foreign policy.” Soviet international law scholar Gregorii Tunkin’s statement seems as valid as ever today. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine since 2014, the horrors of Bucha and Russia’s increasingly questionable statements leave little room for imagination that it is a nation that cares little for international law as Western nations see it. While Russia’s approach to international law has received