sovereign state

“The key point is whether we can continue to be Ukrainians, and keep our national identity and our national sovereign state,” he said.

If indeed Putin is an imperialist who wants full control of Ukraine – or, as is often claimed, its elimination as a sovereign state and the recreation of a polity akin to the Soviet Union – then negotiation and compromise with Russia become impossible.

If Ukraine can obtain the sort of Article 5-type security guarantees now being talked about, sufficient to deter any future Russian aggression and thereby safeguard its independence as a free and sovereign state, then that would be a form of victory.

That agreement marked one of the first times a sovereign state accepted the notion that international law might apply not only to them but to organizations and indeed individuals.

The sovereign state of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia will only exist for a matter of months.