▲ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is inspecting the eastern front of Donetsk with the military leaders. (Source: Yonhap News)

A war crisis is imminent as tensions in Eastern Europe continue over Ukrai

ne's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, since late last year. Accordingly, each country recommends the withdrawal of ambassadors and the departure of their citizens. Since the U.S. State Department raised the world's first travel warning to the highest level of, "Don't Travel," countries have also recommended that their citizens return home quickly. On the same day, the Korean, Japanese, and Dutch governments also recommended leaving Ukraine. The next day, Britain and Norway also ordered their citizens to withdraw.

Meanwhile, NATO is a treaty that was signed in 1949, to counter the military threats of the former Soviet Union. Twelve countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, with 18 other countries, including Turkey, Greece, Germany, Spain, and the Czech Republic, have since joined. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, which were under the influence of the former Soviet Union, are also affiliated. Russia has long opposed Ukraine's accession to NATO. President Putin believes that when Germany unified in the past, the U.S. and other Western forces did not keep their verbal promises that they would not expand NATO jurisdiction by an inch east, however, they continued to expand eastward, including the three Baltic countries. In addition, Ukraine has historically been an important geopolitical region that Russia needed under its control to increase its military and economic power. If Ukraine joins NATO, following the three Baltic countries bordering Russia, it will pose a significant threat to Russia, with the presence of Western troops just around the corner. Therefore, Ukraine is the Maginot Line for Russia. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said at a meeting in January, "It is absolutely important that former Soviet countries, including Ukraine, are guaranteed to never join NATO." In addition, Ukraine and Russia have deep social, cultural, and historical relations as they belonged to the former Soviet Union together in the past, and the Russian language is also widely used in Ukraine. However, there was also a dispute as it was close to joining. Since Russia forcibly annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea using force in 2014, it has been at war for the past eight years.

On the other hand, many experts believe that there is a low possibility of an all-out war. The incident was caused by Ukraine's joining of NATO externally, but in fact, it was caused by Putin's ambition to restore its influence from in the past Soviet Union and internal factors to divert public dissatisfaction with Putin's long-term dictatorship in conjunction with his corruption scandal. In addition, regarding the increasing deployment of Russian troops along the border of Ukraine, many military experts said that an invasion is possible at any time, but it is not enough to wage an all-out war. In fact, it is unlikely to lead to an all-out war, however, some say that the situation is likely to be prolonged in that diplomatic solutions are also difficult without Russia's will to seek an amicable resolution.

The tightening of Ukraine-Russia is not only affecting the New York stock market but also affecting the world's politics and economy. Beginning with a series of orders from countries around the world to withdraw their citizens, global oil prices are steadily rising. As a result, gasoline prices continued to rise for the fifth consecutive week in Korea, soaring to around 1,700 won in three months. In addition, overseas Bitcoin fell to 49.73 million won due to the collapse of the 50 million won mark. Domestic Bitcoin also plunged nearly 8%, falling below $40,000. We hope that Russia and Ukraine will reach a smooth agreement as soon as possible to resolve the situation without armed intervention or loss of personnel.

By Shin Jeong-eun,cub-reporter  jes203id@gmail.com

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