Defense, Deterrence, Defiance: Explaining Eastern Europe's Response to War in Ukraine Through International Relations Theory
Journal: Scholarly Commons (University of Pennsylvania)
Year: 2025

In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine to topple the Western-aligned government of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The invasion escalated an eight-year conflict that began with Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, breaking 50 years of peace in Europe and upending the security order. The conflict forced Eastern European states to respond, given their proximity to Russia and Ukraine, but these responses were not uniform. Some states firmly back Kyiv while others maintain ties wi