If Moscow isn’t compelled to return Crimea to Ukraine, a major pillar of the international system that has been in place since 1945 will have been destroyed,” says Aleksandr Skobov, “and a drift toward a major war is inevitable” – one that Russia may not begin but will have caused by its annexation of Crimea.
Therefore, the Russian commentator argues, “there is no task more important than the return of Crimea to Ukraine.” If the international community lacks the will to achieve that, he continues, the pre-existing international system will collapse into a chaos that will not be resolved without a major conflict.