Ukraine - UN Art 51 (collective self-defense)

Great Debates
1

I haven’t seen this, not just here, but anywhere. Maybe I’m not looking all that well. I’m just seeing NATO stuff, but nothing re: United Nations.

Two questions, one factual, one debatable.

(1) Can a country come to UN Member Ukraine’s aid and fight the Russians, per UN Art 51 (collective self defense, ie, an attack on one = an attack on all)? To be clear, I don’t mean send in UN Troops. I just mean, Ukraine was attacked, so country X is going to help them under Art 51.

(2) If 1 above is correct, why hasn’t any country done so? Even some token troops or advisors, or something.

Thanks in advance.

2

If I understand what you are asking, then yes…any country could, if it so choose, go to the aid of Ukraine, including the use of military force. They don’t even need article 51…it’s the right of any sovereign state to decide this for themselves. And any member of NATO could do this as well. They just couldn’t expect that, if Russia retaliated, for the other NATO members to come to their aid.

The US has actually sent advisors as well as weapons. That’s about as far as we are prepared to go (well, we are also sharing intel with them). My guess is no one else has gone to their aid as doing so would be an act of war with Russia, and no one wants to do that, even to defend Ukraine. So, instead, several countries are sending aid and weapons, as well as doing other things such as sanctions.

3

Sure, but it can do so without Art. 51, too. The U.N. charter doesn’t prohibit war.

You’re asking why a country might hesitate going to war against Russia? Maybe, because Russia might retaliate against them?

4

Thanks for the responses. I was pretty sure it was obvious, but everything I was seeing is through a “NATO” lens.

I can appreciate not wanting to start a war with Russia. I’m just a bit too caught up in this and really sick of Putin/bullies/all that. It feels like a moment. To me, this is the end of Putin as soon as he invaded the whole country, but I’ll just have to wait a few more years and that’s fine.

5

But we don’t know what and who comes next. The nationalist/authoritarian tendency has a long history in Russia. It’s just as likely that someone new could deal as a new broom with some of the obvious kleptocracy and mafia-style bosses, and still be a handful for the West to handle (and end up promoting a new set of kleptocratic oligarchs).