The Russian-Ukrainian War Implications to Russia’s Containment Strategy

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many claimed that “Europe has not witnessed such an example of a naked assault on the principles of state sovereignty and territorial integrity since the end of the Cold War.“ Moreover, politicians and researchers urged the US to apply a containment strategy towards Russia once again. Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden made it clear that the US was moving toward Russia’s containment 2.0: he called Putin’s actions “a naked aggression” and vowed to make Russia pay “economically and strategically.” The paper examines Russia‘s containment strategy in Biden‘s administration's foreign policy and its transformations. What vision about Russia’s containment strategy the Biden administration has (in terms of goals, instruments, and challenges)? How does the administration implement it? What role for the factor of democracy is foreseen in Russia‘s containment strategy? Has the containment strategy been transformed and adapted to the new circumstances as a result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine? What role has been foreseen for Ukraine in Russia’s containment strategy by the Biden administration? These are the questions the paper aims to address.