Title to Territory in Europe in the Context of the Russian-Ukrainian Armed Conflict: Methods, Illegal Claims and Legal Assessments

Illegal decisions and actions do not give rise to legal consequences. An annexed territory cannot receive the status of a part of an aggressor state. The question of a territorial dispute does not arise in this case. It is correct to talk about a unilateral unreasonable claim. Territory, as an integral part of the concept of state, as a criterion of statehood, has acquired special significance in the modern conditions. It is not only a natural resource (land, water, subsoil) and a space for the placement of technologies and hazardous waste. It may be considered as a line of protection. States may lay claim to one or another part of the territory of a neighboring state. The methods of territorial acquisitions of the past do not comply with the norms of modern international law.