European Cold War Neutrality in the Kremlin's Perspective

During the Cold War, some European states (Austria, Finland, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden) maintained a position of neutrality between East and West. For more than three decades after the Cold War ended, most of these states continued to adhere to what they construed as a neutral status. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted Finland and Sweden to abandon their neutral status and join NATO, but some smaller European states that had been neutral during the Cold War did not seek to join the Western alliance. For the Kremlin, however, the European neutral states are of no special significance, unlike during the Cold War. Yet, a neutral status is demanded by Russia for Ukraine. This demand deviates from earlier understandings when neutrality was a tool or precondition for upholding and safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity. The seminar will discuss the changing Russian understanding of European neutrality in historical perspective.

Host or Publisher Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies