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

Lost in translation: Different interpretations of Paris peace talks spell trouble ahead

UkraineAlert Sep 30, 2025

Putin’s dream of demilitarizing Ukraine has turned into his worst nightmare

By Peter Dickinson

Putin had hoped to demilitarize and decapitate the Ukrainian state, but his self-defeating invasion has inadvertently created the militarily powerful and fiercely independent Ukraine he feared most of all, writes Peter Dickinson.
Conflict Defense Technologies
Lost in translation: Different interpretations of Paris peace talks spell trouble ahead

UkraineAlert Oct 2, 2025

Drone superpower Ukraine is teaching NATO how to defend against Russia

By David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s unrivaled experience of drone warfare makes it a key partner for NATO and an indispensable ally in the defense of Europe as the continent faces up to the mounting threat posed by an expansionist Russia, writes David Kirichenko.
Conflict Defense Technologies
Lost in translation: Different interpretations of Paris peace talks spell trouble ahead

UkraineAlert Oct 14, 2025

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are a European problem

By Aura Sabadus

Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure are no longer just a Ukrainian problem. Moscow’s bombing campaign will become a wider European issue unless more support is offered to Kyiv, writes Aura Sabadus.
Conflict Drones

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Jan 24, 2022

Putin’s threatened invasion is already hitting the Ukrainian economy hard

By Anders Åslund

While the world waits to see if Vladimir Putin will proceed with his threatened invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s menacing military posture is already hitting the Ukrainian economy hard.

Conflict
Corruption

UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2022

Disarming Putin’s history weapon

By Bohdan Vitvitsky

Ever since 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin has weaponized history as part of his hybrid war against Ukraine and sought to whitewash what is a deeply troubling Russian record of atrocity and oppression.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2022

Ukraine Crisis: Putin the gambler may have gone too far to back down

By Timothy Ash

Russian President Vladimir Putin has gained the world’s attention with his threat to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine but he may now feel he must act or risk a serious loss of credibility on the international stage.

Conflict
European Union

UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2022

Stop asking what Putin wants and start asking what Ukrainians want

By Mychailo Wynnyckyj

Fears of a major European war have sparked endless speculation over what Putin may want and how the West should react, but Ukraine itself has been largely reduced to the status of bystander in its own national drama.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2022

Don’t believe Putin’s propaganda. Sanctions are hurting Russia.

By Harley Balzer

International sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 in response to Moscow’s attack on Ukraine continue to have a negative impact on the country’s economy despite Kremlin efforts to claim otherwise.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Jan 18, 2022

Ben Wallace: Putin’s bogus NATO fears disguise Ukraine ambitions

By Peter Dickinson

As geopolitical tensions continue to mount in Eastern Europe, UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace has published an essay exposing the chilling reality behind Russian President Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions in Ukraine.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jan 17, 2022

Countering the growing Russian naval threat in the Black Sea region

By Skyler Blake

With Russian President Vladimir Putin currently threatening to escalate his eight-year war against Ukraine, it is now vital to implement an effective NATO security strategy for the Black Sea region.

Conflict
Maritime Security

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2022

Kyiv Diary: Ukrainians await Putin’s invasion and Poroshenko’s arrest

By Vladislav Davidzon

The threat of a full-scale Russian invasion and the prospect of a major political scandal sparked by the arrest of former president Petro Poroshenko have failed to induce panic among the hardy crisis veterans of Kyiv.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2022

Calls grow within Germany for tougher stance towards Putin’s Russia

By Alexander Motyl

German foreign policy experts have published an appeal demanding Germany’s Russia policy be fundamentally changed from tacit encouragement to open resistance of Vladimir Putin’s expansionist designs.

Conflict
Corruption

UkraineAlert

Jan 15, 2022

Moscow’s Memory Wars: Putin seeks to whitewash Russia’s Stalinist past

By Gina Lentine

Russia’s recent move to shut down the Memorial International human rights organization is part of an ongoing Kremlin campaign to rehabilitate the Soviet era and whitewash the crimes of Russia’s Stalinist past.

Civil Society
Disinformation
Load More

spotlight

Resilience in the face of adversity

Ukraine’s transformation

Ukraine has moved tentatively toward an open society and market economy since independence. The country has held several democratic elections and made halting progress in addressing corruption and state control in its economy. Since the 2014 Maidan Revolution, Ukraine has undertaken significant governance and economic reform and moved decisively toward a Europe-Atlantic foreign policy. Since 2022, Ukraine has resiliently continued to advance some reforms despite fighting for its very existence against the full-scale Russian invasion.

Learn more about Ukraine
Lost in translation: Different interpretations of Paris peace talks spell trouble ahead

UkraineAlert Dec 5, 2024

Ukraine’s entrepreneurial class can drive the country’s economic recovery

The Ukrainian SME sector has demonstrated remarkable wartime resilience and is poised to be at the forefront of efforts to create a modern, innovative, postwar economy, writes Anton Waschuk.

Read More
Lost in translation: Different interpretations of Paris peace talks spell trouble ahead

UkraineAlert Oct 1, 2024

Ukraine needs international investors to maintain defense tech momentum

By Mykhailo Fedorov

Ukraine’s rapidly expanding defense tech sector can play a game-changing role in the war against Russia but Ukrainian companies need international investment, writes Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.
Artificial Intelligence Conflict
Lost in translation: Different interpretations of Paris peace talks spell trouble ahead

UkraineAlert Jun 13, 2024

Ukraine officially embraces English as historic westward pivot continues

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

By officially embracing English, Ukrainians aim to support their country’s historic pivot away from Moscow and return to the European community of nations, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.
Civil Society Conflict

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.

Learn more

Follow us on social media
and support our work

support our work

Content

UkraineAlert

Dec 12, 2019

Lost in translation: Different interpretations of Paris peace talks spell trouble ahead

By Petro Burkovskyi

The diverging visions for a future peace settlement in Ukraine were on full display in Paris this week as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met for the first time. These differences were also evident in minor discrepancies that appeared in the Ukrainian and Russian language versions of the summit conclusions.

Conflict
Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

UkraineAlert

Dec 12, 2019

European integration is taking root across Ukraine despite Russia’s best efforts

By Alyona Getmanchuk

A new nationwide study has highlighted the progress made across Ukraine towards greater European integration as the country seeks to move closer to the rest of Europe despite Russian efforts to derail the process and reassert its dominant position.

European Union
Eurozone

UkraineAlert

Dec 11, 2019

Russia-Ukraine Paris peace talks: The view from Berlin

By Mattia Nelles

Monday’s Normandy Four summit in the French capital saw German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron sitting down with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin in a bid to end years of deadly stalemate and bring to an end the undeclared war between Russia and Ukraine in the Donbas. What kind of impression did the long-awaited Paris summit make in Berlin?

Conflict
Germany

UkraineAlert

Dec 10, 2019

How not to discuss with Russia

By Anders Åslund

With global security threatened by the dawn of a new Cold War, dialogue between Russia and the West has never been more important, but when the desire for discussion prevents honest appraisal of the facts, the results can be counterproductive, argues Anders Åslund

International Norms
Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Dec 10, 2019

Q&A: What do Paris talks mean for the Russia-Ukraine peace process?

By Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the first time during long-awaited Normandy Four peace talks in Paris this week. While the meeting failed to produce any major breakthroughs, it did result in progress on a number of technical issues and a commitment to continue dialogue in spring 2020. What does this mean for the Russia-Ukraine peace process?

Conflict
Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

UkraineAlert

Dec 4, 2019

The shadow of Munich hangs over Russia-Ukraine Paris peace talks

By Bohdan Nahaylo

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin face-to-face for the first time next week at Paris peace talks hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. With France publicly promoting the need for improved ties with the Kremlin, many fear Ukraine could face pressure to make dangerous concessions.

Conflict
Crisis Management

UkraineAlert

Dec 4, 2019

Profit over principle: Apple appeases the Kremlin

By Diane Francis

Apple has changed the labelling on its apps for Russian users and now shows Ukraine's occupied Crimean peninsula as Russian territory. This follows a similar move by Google earlier in 2019. By bowing to the Kremlin's demands, do global tech giants risk normalizing Russian aggression against Ukraine?

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Dec 3, 2019

Low expectations as Zelenskyy prepares for Putin peace talks in Paris

By Taras Kuzio

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy is hoping to make progress towards peace during his first face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin next week in Paris, but Russian and Ukrainian visions of a post-war settlement remain fundamentally at odds.

Conflict
Russia

UkraineAlert

Dec 3, 2019

Ukraine faces a decisive December in a rapidly deteriorating geopolitical climate

By Stephen Blank

With a NATO summit in London and long awaited peace talks in Paris, December is shaping up to be a decisive month for Ukraine, but the geopolitical climate is far from favorable and could deteriorate further.

Conflict
France

UkraineAlert

Nov 26, 2019

How to make Ukraine ten times better

By Diane Francis

“Ukraine is a wonderful country and could be ten times better. But to achieve this depends not on Russia, or anyone, but on Ukrainian leadership and on stopping corruption,” said Adnan Kivan.

Corruption
Democratic Transitions
Load More