The response of the intellectual left to Russia’s war against Ukraine has largely involved blaming NATO, an aversion to any kind of military involvement, and generic calls to pacifism. But understanding this war involves recognizing some realities that the intellectual left finds uncomfortable: NATO is not the aggressor, Russia is; Ukrainians are driven by a form of nationalism; and there is no meaningful sense of national sovereignty independent of powerful guarantors. Even if this will mean a new form of dependence for Ukraine, and even though these institutions come with their own imperial past, only the EU and NATO can guarantee its sovereignty against Russia's imperialistic advances, argues Étienne Balibar.