War and Peace in Ukraine. A Legal-Linguistic Perspective

The current research overlaps a linguistic and a legal analysis of public international law in the Ukrainian case. Based on both official documents and public declarations, it explains the grounds for the wide range of understandings that the two common concepts—peace and war—may be bearing depending of the angle of looking at the matter and depending on the actor invoking them. The study develops the reasons likely to have been considered by President Putin when insisting to refer to the Russian military action started in Ukraine in February 2022 as “special military operation” instead of “war” and the cardinal difference in terms of legal impact for such a linguistic choice. It also builds on the elements which could serve as a basis for achieving a deal in obtaining peace in Ukraine, while tackling on the possible geopolitical, public communication and diplomatic hurdles, and offering clues for strategic analysis of the matter.

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