The main approaches to solving the latest international and interstate armed conflicts
Authors: Knysh V.V. 
Published: December 2024

The development of international relations leads to a new interpretation of certain categories and concepts in international law. However, despite such changes, the fundamental goal of the functioning of international law is to ensure peace on all continents, economic development of states and stable international cooperation. Even the most complex processes in interstate relations must be achieved thanks to regulation according to the principles of international law, the violation of which by one of the states can cause the destabilization of international relations. Timely recourse to mechanisms for the settlement of interstate conflicts based on the norms of international law is a guarantee of the further development of our civilization, and any speculation on such norms can inevitably lead to the degradation of states and the violation of the rights of their citizens.To find the location of the phenomenon of armed conflict, there are three existing common legal regimes in an attempt to solve this problem: 1) the first - consists in the prohibition of the use of force and interference in the internal competence of any state, which, in fact, refers the internal armed conflict - exclusively to the issue of a sovereign state , its solution «without international intervention»; 2) the second – in the application of international humanitarian law; 3) the third - in international human rights law, which, in comparison with international humanitarian law, focuses its attention on the individual, and not on the community or group of people). The ways of solving the Russian-Ukrainian war as a modern armed conflict have their own specificity. In this context, a special place is occupied by radical international legal ways of resolving armed conflicts (including the modern Russian-Ukrainian war). At the same time, the prediction regarding the scenario of a radical nature in the style of «total war», which began on February 24, 2022, came true. The scenario of «total war» was realized after the decision of the Russian leadership to start an open military aggression called «special operation».Modern science also singles out very unpopular ways of solving international conflicts, in particular, conformist and moderate ways. One of these options is the extremely unfavourable «satellite» scenario. The «satellite» scenario involves finding ways to make separate peace with Russia on favourable terms, neglecting the interests of Western partners, recognizing pseudo-state entities, and refusing to return Crimea. The next unacceptable scenario is the «war freeze». It consists in the «freezing» of the Russian-Ukrainian war» along the lines of Transnistria, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. Russia and the most conformist and pro-Russian layers of European society are interested in such a decision.Among the scenarios mentioned above, the first considers the solution of the problem by military means and, in fact, assigns a dominant role to military actions and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Other scenarios of the development of Ukrainian-Russian relations are essentially scenarios of ineffective conflict resolution.Thus, the key form of resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian war is a radical (military) method, which provides for the liberation of all occupied territories of Ukraine, followed by the signing of a corresponding peace treaty between Ukraine and Russia through the mediation of relevant international organizations and other subjects of international law.