ENToday, Russia and the West face the most severe crisis in their relations since the end of the Cold War. The West accuses Russia of violating international law in Ukraine, while Russia claims that the West violated similar norms earlier in the Balkans and the Middle East. Unlike the Cold War, the current stand-off does not have a clearly pronounced ideological or global nature (despite Ukraine's importance, it does not dominate the entire global agenda) and is not based on blocs, as was the case with NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The new confrontation involves the rigid assertion of each party's geopolitical and economic interests, including military and political intervention and unilateral revision of state borders.