From a column on politico.com by Daniel R. DePetris and Rajan Menon headlined “On Ukraine, Much of the World Is On the Sidelines. Here’s Why.”:

The United States and its allies see the moral and strategic stakes involved in the Ukraine war as straightforward: Ukraine is the victim of aggression, Russia the aggressor. At issue for them is not merely Ukraine’s independence, but also the democratic world’s willingness to defend the American-designed “rules-based international order” from Russian President Vladimir Putin — an unapologetic authoritarian.