How the War in Ukraine is Reshaping Global Alliances
- Vardui Chtrkyan
- Jan 12
- 4 min read
By: Kayla Penhasi
As a result of the years of tensions between Russia and Ukraine—primarily beginning in February of 2014—and those tensions translating into a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia that began in 2022, this war has caused the reshaping of alliances across the globe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in an attempt to restore influence in the post-Soviet world, preventing Western integration in Ukraine’s government. Yet, this has caused Russia to be isolated from Western powers. Since February 2022, Russia’s ties with the United States have deteriorated, and former U.S. President Joe Biden imposed a wave of sanctions against Russia to hinder major business activities (Holland, Mason, & Bose, 2022). The situation has been reframed by Russian official rhetoric to be a conflict with the U.S.
In contrast to Russia’s severed ties with the West, China, Iran, and North Korea have strengthened ties with Russia as a result of their shared vision of “post-Western order (Stent, 2025)—mostly in the context specifically of the war in Ukraine.
Regarding North Korea’s alliance with Russia, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, “The war in Ukraine and shared antipathy toward the United States has turned the once chilly relationship between North Korea and Russia toward pragmatic and growing cooperation” (Chivvis & Keating, 2024).
With Russia providing the manufacturing supplies required to create certain weapons in addition to currency, Moscow is being supplied with munitions by North Korea, including artillery shells. Iran has also been helping Russia in terms of providing munitions, and as well as this has been supplying Shahed drones, which are unmanned combat aerial vehicles, or UCAVs (Emmett, Ball, & Jenzen-Jones, 2022).
According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, “As with North Korea, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine opened the door to new cooperation with Iran. The most high-profile has been Tehran’s support to Moscow’s war effort with the sale of thousands of its Mohajer and, especially, Shahed drones. Russia has used these to cripple Ukraine’s infrastructure and to saturate its missile defense systems with incoming targets,” (Chivvis & Keating, 2024).
As for China’s partnership with Russia, this partnership appears to be the strongest, with a “no-limits” partnership, as proclaimed by the two countries.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, “Since taking office in 2012, Xi has decisively shaped China-Russia relations. His first overseas trip as leader was to Russia, he refers to Putin as his ‘best friend and colleague,’ and he has met one-on-one with the Russian leader more than forty times, far more than any other world leader. In the weeks before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the two declared a ‘no limits’ partnership between their countries,” (Blackwill & Fontaine, 2024).
Many countries throughout the war have remained neutral, which allows them to maximize their geopolitical gains, balancing their relations with both Russia and the West. On the other hand, many countries have sided with Ukraine, supplying them with military equipment.
“Countries which have supplied Ukraine with weapons and military equipment include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The list above does not include countries providing non-lethal aid or fuel. Some nations may have also kept their transfers secret,” (Haddad, 2023).
NATO, as a result of Russia’s aggression, is prompting members to increase defense spending and military coordination.
Military aid that Ukraine has received includes helicopters, drones, artillery, armored vehicles, small arms, ammunition, anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft weapons, body armor, and helmets (New Agencies, 2023).
Under the current United States Administration, with U.S. President Donald Trump in office, this poses possible economic opportunities for Putin, lessening Russia’s isolation from the West (Stent). Russia’s invasion, altogether, has fractured some alliances and strengthened some, reshaping the international system.
Works Cited
Blackwill, Robert D., and Richard Fontaine. “ContentKeeper Content Filtering.” Cfr.org, 2024, www.cfr.org/report/no-limits-china-russia-relationship-and-us-foreign-policy.
Center for Preventive Action. “War in Ukraine.” Global Conflict Tracker, Council on Foreign Relations, 27 May 2025, www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-ukraine.
Chivvis, Christopher, and Jack Keating. “Cooperation between China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia: Current and Potential Future Threats to America.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 8 Oct. 2024, carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/10/cooperation-between-china-iran-north-korea-and-russia-current-and-potential-future-threats-to-america?lang=en.
Emmett, Joe, et al. “Shahed-131 & -136 UAVs: A Visual Guide.” Osmp.ngo, 2022, osmp.ngo/collection/shahed-131-136-uavs-a-visual-guide/.
Greminger, Thomas , and Jean-Marc Rickli. “Neutrality after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: The Example of Switzerland and Some Less.” National Defense University Press, 7 Sept. 2023, ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/3511995/neutrality-after-the-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-the-example-of-switzerland-and/.
Haddad, Mohammed. “Where Does Your Country Stand on the Russia-Ukraine War?” Www.aljazeera.com, 16 Feb. 2023, www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/16/mapping-where-every-country-stands-on-the-russia-ukraine-war.
Holland, Steve, et al. “Biden Hits Russia with New Sanctions for “Premeditated” Ukraine Attack.” Reuters, 25 Feb. 2022, www.reuters.com/world/europe/biden-unveil-new-sanctions-russia-after-it-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24/.
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH. “Russia-Ukraine War | Human Rights Watch.” Www.hrw.org, 2023, www.hrw.org/tag/russia-ukraine-war.
La Guardia, Anton . “How the War in Ukraine Is Reshaping America’s Global Alliances.” The Economist, 14 Nov. 2022, www.economist.com/the-world-ahead/2022/11/14/how-the-war-in-ukraine-is-reshaping-americas-global-alliances.
Legvold, Robert. “The War in Ukraine in a Transitional World Order.” Ox.ac.uk, 2022, uc.web.ox.ac.uk/article/the-war-in-ukraine-in-a-transitional-world-order.
Masters, Jonathan. “Ukraine: Conflict at the Crossroads of Europe and Russia.” Council on Foreign Relations, 14 Feb. 2023, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/ukraine-conflict-crossroads-europe-and-russia.
Ray, Michael. “Russia-Ukraine War.” Britannica, Britannica, 12 Mar. 2023, www.britannica.com/event/2022-Russian-invasion-of-Ukraine.
Slusher, Matthew. “Lessons from the Ukraine Conflict: Modern Warfare in the Age of Autonomy, Information, and Resilience.” Csis.org, 2 May 2025, www.csis.org/analysis/lessons-ukraine-conflict-modern-warfare-age-autonomy-information-and-resilience.
Stent, Angela. “How the War in Ukraine Changed Russia’s Global Standing.” Brookings, 2 Apr. 2025, www.brookings.edu/articles/how-the-war-in-ukraine-changed-russias-global-standing/.
I had never known much about the Russian-Ukraine War and affairs in the first place, but this article revived my understanding of why it's so relevant and still important and ongoing in our world. Thank you, and an amazing article! Kudos to this journalist for writing so well.