New Russia-West Confrontation: War of Attrition or Escalation?

The article analyses the ongoing Russia-West confrontation manifested mainly in the armed conflict in Ukraine, the world’s largest war of sanctions, a growing confrontation in cyberspace and politics, the erosion of the system of arms control treaties and a sharp reduction of cooperation in the humanitarian sphere. Russia and the West are fighting not only for influence in Ukraine but also over the future of international relations on a global scale in the coming decades. The most plausible development seems to be a war of attrition, which, however, does not rule out the risk of escalation.