If you are literate at all, you probably have noticed that there is a conflict brewing, and boiling over in Eastern Europe. While I am not a fan of the Russian state personally, I am not going to analyze the situation in Ukraine, or give my opinion on the length to which the argument that Ukraine is “artificial” or not. (The argument here being, according to Putin, that Lenin and the Bolsheviks increased the size of Ukraine during the construction of the USSR, which is interesting. I am simply going to deconstruct the arguments and justifications that have been given by the U.S. state and it’s media apparatus for NATO intervention in Eastern Europe.

However, to grossly sum up a horrendously complex and nuanced situation, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, it’s former SSR’s have formed independent states, Russia and Ukraine included. Russia wants some of Ukraine’s land that holds Russian-speaking people in the eastern portion, and obviously, Ukraine does not want to give these lands up. This conflict began in earnest in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine via popular referendum. Additionally, two breakaway republics (breakaways from a breakaway!) that were formed in 2014 during this conflict have been recognized by Russia and a few of its allies as of Monday night. This is the crux of the matter.

It has been espoused by media outlets, even those not in the United States, such as a BBC article linked here, that Russia has “violated international law.” While this is quite the attack, the truthfulness of this is debatable. One could argue that since the U.S. president said it, however, and the U.S. supersedes international law, as seen in the leveling of Libya, and NATO’s refusal to comply with a UN resolution, international law, that the U.S. can make it up on the spot. It is also presumed that the “international law” that is being violated is the presence of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, However, as these are separatist states, recognized by some countries, it is murky at best whether or not any law was violated. It is difficult to tell whether or not these separatist states have invited troops in. It is also difficult to tell whether or not there are even Russian troops in these states in the first place, according to the BBC.

With the current situation in Eastern Europe seemingly coming to a boiling point, there is one message that is clear: no war. There should be no war with Russia, under any circumstances.