Russia and UkraineConflicting Time Perspectives in Recognition Policies and the Use of Force1
Year: 2023

The recognition of states, and the use of force, are attributes of the exercise of sovereignty. This chapter analyses the time perspectives implied in Russia’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics in February 2022 and its use of force against Ukraine. To justify the creation of new international borders, President Vladimir Putin pointed to Russia’s loss of historical territories – a focus on the past that contrasts with the primacy Russia accorded to the present when, on becoming ind