Professor Michael Schmitt recently authored an article titled “Ukraine Symposium – Are We at War?” Given the reports of the U.S. and several other NATO nations providing intelligence to Ukraine, Professor Schmitt addresses the question of when does intelligence sharing trigger an international armed conflict (IAC) between the State providing it and the State against which it is used. Michael Schmitt is a Professor of Public International Law at Reading Law School (U.K.), the Francis Lieber Distinguished Scholar at the Lieber Institute of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Visiting Professor at the University of Texas Law School, and Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar. Professor Schmitt’s post builds on his earlier contribution to the Ukraine Symposium in which he examined the roles of neutrality, co-belligerency, and the use of force in the context of providing arms and materiel to Ukraine. 

Professor Schmitt notes that the sole purpose of the post is to help identify when a State providing support to a belligerent becomes a party to a conflict. He indicates that once a State becomes a party to an IAC, the law of neutrality no longer applies between the State and the adversary (Russia). Moreover, international humanitarian law (IHL) governs the activities of both that have a nexus to the conflict. Professor Schmitt concludes by indicating that he sees nothing unlawful in providing intelligence to Ukraine that facilitates its defense against Russia’s unlawful armed attack, which has been underway since 2014. You can read Professor Schmitt’s full analysis here.