Stay Updated

As the world watches the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfold, UkraineAlert delivers the best Atlantic Council expert insight and analysis on Ukraine twice a week directly to your inbox.

editor’s picks

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Feb 27, 2025

The Finlandization fallacy: Ukrainian neutrality will not stop Putin’s Russia

By Brian Mefford

Donald Trump seeks to broker a peace deal with Vladimir Putin but any attempt to impose neutrality on Ukraine could set the stage for further Russian aggression, writes Brian Mefford.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Feb 25, 2025

US sides with Russia against Ukraine and Europe at the United Nations

By Shelby Magid

A diplomatic clash at the UN has illustrated the dramatic divide that has emerged between the United States and Europe since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump just over one month ago, writes Shelby Magid.

Conflict Freedom and Prosperity

UkraineAlert

Feb 25, 2025

Will a new Russia reset prove more successful than earlier attempts?

By Leah Nodvin

The Trump administration is seeking to reset relations with Russia as part of a comprehensive shift in US foreign policy, but successive past Russia resets have ended in failure, writes Leah Nodvin.

Conflict Economic Sanctions

UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2025

Ukrainians are proudly democratic but resoundingly reject wartime elections

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s fight for democracy has been at the heart of the country’s struggle against the past two decades of escalating Russian aggression, but Ukrainians overwhelmingly reject the idea of staging dangerous wartime elections before peace is secured, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2025

Trump and Putin seek economic reset but businesses may not rush back to Russia

By Edward Verona

As the Trump administration seeks to reset relations with Russia as part of a peace process to end the war in Ukraine, Moscow is pushing the idea of increased economic cooperation, writes Edward Verona.

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Feb 18, 2025

Transatlantic alliance enters most challenging period since Suez crisis

By Edward Verona

The conclusion that many observers are drawing from the 2025 Munich Security Conference is that the United States, at least during the Trump presidency, is no longer willing to guarantee European security, writes Edward Verona.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Feb 18, 2025

Georgia’s pro-Kremlin authorities intensify crackdown on opposition

By Mercedes Sapuppo

Georgia’s pro-Kremlin authorities presented new legislation in February that critics say will increase pressure on the country’s civil society and independent media while also placing additional restrictions on protests, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Feb 13, 2025

Ukrainian drones reportedly knock out 10 percent of Russian refining capacity

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s 2025 campaign of drone strikes on Russian energy infrastructure has succeeded in knocking out around one-tenth of Russia’s refining capacity, according to analysis by Reuters, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Feb 13, 2025

A Putin-friendly peace deal would be disastrous for global security

By Ihor Smeshko

As US President Donald Trump announces the start of negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, Ihor Smeshko warns that a Putin-friendly compromise peace would have catastrophic consequences for the future of international security.

Conflict International Norms

UkraineAlert

Feb 12, 2025

Europe must prepare to defend itself in an increasingly multipolar world

By Mykola Bielieskov

With the United States looking to pivot away from Europe to Asia and a revisionist Russia openly embracing an expansionist agenda, European leaders must prepare to defend themselves in an increasingly multipolar world, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict Defense Industry

spotlight

The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia in the East.

Follow us on social media
and support our work

Content

UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2021

The rejection of reformer Yuriy Vitrenko highlights Ukraine’s broken politics

By Adrian Karatnycky

The Ukrainian parliament's failure to confirm the appointment of veteran reformer Yuriy Vitrenko as Energy Minister raises serious questions over the maturity of the country's political culture.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2021

Navalny’s anti-Putin message resonates in Russia’s regions

By Maria Snegovaya

Alexei Navalny’s anti-Putin message clearly resonates with residents of Russian regions far away from the country’s traditional centers of political activity in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Civil Society Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2021

Navalny vs Putin: what next?

By Peter Dickinson

January 23 saw some of the biggest anti-regime protests across Russia in recent years. What can we expect from the escalating confrontation between Vladimir Putin and opposition leader Alexei Navalny?

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2021

Geopolitics complicates Ukraine’s vaccine quest

By Pavlo Kovtoniuk

Unfavorable geopolitical factors have helped make Ukraine one of the last countries in Europe to secure COVID vaccine supplies and delayed the launch of a national inoculation campaign.

Coronavirus Ukraine

BelarusAlert

Jan 27, 2021

Protest mood spreads from Belarus to Russia as calls grow for post-Soviet change

By Brian Whitmore

As Russians took to the streets across eleven time zones on January 23 to protest the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, many of them also had protests in neighboring Belarus on their minds.

Belarus Civil Society

UkraineAlert

Jan 26, 2021

Resetting Ukraine’s reforms

By Olena Halushka

Since the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine has embarked on an historic reform process that has produced decidedly mixed results. A reset may now help get the country's transformation back on track.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 26, 2021

Russia’s Navalny protests provoke mixed emotions in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine has good reasons to support the current Russian protests against Kremlin corruption, but many Ukrainians remain suspicious of protest leader Alexei Navalny's troubling nationalist background.

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2021

Ukraine’s historic gas sector reforms are under threat

By Aura Sabadus

The transformation of Ukraine's gas sector is widely seen as one of the few reform success stories since the country's 2014 Revolution of Dignity, but recent political decisions are placing this progress in doubt.

Geopolitics & Energy Security Oil and Gas

UkraineAlert

Jan 20, 2021

US targets Putin’s pipelines from Baltic Sea to Balkans

By Diane Francis

Washington’s attention has recently focused on Nord Stream 2, but US officials also face similar challenges in Southern Europe, where Russia is once again using energy to advance its geopolitical interests.

Eastern Europe Geopolitics & Energy Security

UkraineAlert

Jan 20, 2021

Why Ukraine’s business community has high hopes for the Biden presidency

By Andy Hunder

Many Ukrainians are optimistic that incoming US President Joe Biden can play an historic role in helping Ukraine complete the country's post-Soviet transition and free itself once and for all from oligarch control.

Democratic Transitions Politics & Diplomacy