Just or Realist Peace: A Hard Dilemma
Journal: IntechOpen eBooks
Year: 2026

This chapter examines the competing international conceptions of peace shaping efforts to end the Russia–Ukraine war and the strategic dilemma they create for Ukraine. It contrasts two dominant approaches: a normative or “just” peace, rooted in liberal values of justice, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and accountability, and a realist or transactional peace, centred on compromise, security, and the rapid cessation of violence. While the normative model underpins the positions of Ukraine and