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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

Dec 7, 2021

Biden warns Putin of high costs if Russia launches new Ukraine invasion

By
Peter Dickinson

US President Joe Biden has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that America and its European allies will impose a range of tough new sanctions if Moscow proceeds with its threatened invasion of Ukraine.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Dec 7, 2021

Coal mine methane is key to Ukraine’s climate commitment

By
Conal Campbell

Ukraine joined the Global Methane Pledge at the November 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. The country’s approach towards the coal mining industry will be vital in making good on this pledge.


Climate Change & Climate Action


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Dec 6, 2021

Guerrilla tactics offer Ukraine’s best deterrent against Putin’s invasion force

By
T. X. Hammes

As Ukraine faces the prospect of a possible major escalation in the country's seven-year undeclared war with Russia, Kyiv's best chance of countering the Kremlin invasion force may be via the use of guerrilla tactics.


Conflict


Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Dec 4, 2021

How anti-reform messages are replacing pro-Russian rhetoric on Ukrainian TV

By
Oleksandr Yermakov, Olena Halushka

With openly pro-Russian propaganda no longer effective in today's Ukraine, the country's remaining Kremlin supporters are now focusing their efforts on promoting anti-Western narratives in the Ukrainian media.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Dec 3, 2021

Europe’s future will be decided in Ukraine

By
Oleksii Reznikov

The international community must urgently demonstrate its resolve to punish Russia in order to deter a full-scale invasion of Ukraine that would plunge Europe into chaos, warns Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Dec 2, 2021

Russian threat should revive Ukraine’s stalled domestic reform efforts

By
Denis MacShane

The threat of a major escalation in Russian aggression should help revive Ukraine's stalled domestic reform efforts and push the country towards the transformation that Ukrainians have been demanding for decades.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Dec 2, 2021

Time to stop appeasing Putin and confront Russia’s imperial ambitions

By
Paul Grod

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that he will continue pursuing policies of imperial aggression against Ukraine until he is decisively confronted, argues Ukrainian World Congress President Paul Grod.


Belarus


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Dec 1, 2021

Not the time for Nord Stream 2 nonsense

By
John E. Herbst

A fascinating game is afoot behind closed doors on Capitol Hill. The fate of Nord Stream 2 may hang in the balance.


Geopolitics & Energy Security


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 30, 2021

Transforming Ukraine into an international manufacturing hub

By
Sergiy Tsivkach

Ukraine is taking steps to build on the country's huge potential as a major international manufacturing hub and is now seeking to attract international investment that can drive further economic growth.


Economy & Business


Education


UkraineAlert

Nov 30, 2021

Is the new German government good news for Ukraine?

By
Bohdan Nahaylo

The sun is finally setting on Germany’s Merkel era and a new coalition government is poised to take over. What will this change mean for Germany’s policies towards Russia, Ukraine and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline?


Conflict


European Union

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Content

UkraineAlert

Nov 7, 2017

What the Odesa Port Saga Means for Reform in Ukraine

By Peter J. Marzalik

In an interview last October, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman revealed that not a single x-ray scanner was operational at customs checkpoints in Ukraine, suggesting that corrupt customs officers had deliberately damaged the equipment to facilitate criminal activity. The accusation speaks to the severity of entrenched corruption in the customs services of Ukraine, even amid […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2017

Q&A: How Can Ukraine Get a Better Grade on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index?

By Melinda Haring

Ukraine just received a marginally better grade on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, moving from 80th place in 2017 to 76th place in 2018. Kyiv reduced the cost of construction permits, strengthened minority investor protections, and reduced labor taxes. To put things in perspective, it’s easier to do business in Azerbaijan, Belarus, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2017

Why We Don’t Live Like Britain

By Sergey Fursa

Having admitted to a decade-old sexual harassment incident in which he touched a journalist’s knee at a party conference, British Defense Minister Michael Fallon resigned, stating, “I accept that in the past I have fallen below the high standards that we require of the Armed Forces that I have the honor to represent…I am therefore […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 2, 2017

Pragmatism Prevails over Populism in Ukraine

By Brian Mefford

Successful politics is about getting things done. By that standard, October was a successful month. Not only did the government pass sweeping healthcare reform, pension reform, and judiciary reform, it also staved off populist protests. In short, pragmatism prevailed over populism. Each of the reforms passed was significant, but healthcare reform was the most far-reaching. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2017

Groisman Tells Investors that Shakedowns and Harassment Will End

By Diane Francis

Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman welcomes the creation of an independent anticorruption court in Ukraine and says it will be operating in 2018. “The debate was whether this court should be independent or a chamber. This was a waste of time,” he said in an extensive interview in Toronto. “From day one, I was in support […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2017

In Lviv, World-Class Learning Center Opens Where Soviets Wanted Drab Building

By Melinda Haring

On September 10, Ukrainian Catholic University opened a 64,874 square foot world-class library and educational center in Lviv, Ukraine. Ukrainian Catholic University, the first Catholic university in the former Soviet Union, strives to provide an open, progressive, and democratic learning environment for its students and the community. Canadian businessman and philanthropist James Temerty was the […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2017

What Manafort’s Indictment Means for the US and Ukraine

By Anders Åslund

The most surprising thing about the thirty-one-page indictment of Paul J. Manafort, Jr. and his business partner Richard W. Gates III by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is that it hardly contains anything that was not known to people who have observed Ukraine. Manafort was the all-dominant political advisor to former President Viktor Yanukovych from the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2017

How to End the War in Eastern Ukraine

By Alexander Vershbow

The recent US debate about Russia has focused mainly on Moscow’s disinformation, propaganda, and interference in our elections. But Russia’s aggression against Ukraine remains the original sin and the biggest threat. It’s not just Ukraine’s survival as an independent, democratic state that is on the line, but the future of an international order based on […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 26, 2017

The High Stakes of Ukraine’s Reform Struggle

By Stephen Blank

It is easy to despair about Ukraine ever reforming and becoming a normal European state. Nevertheless, such despair would be a mistaken response to the flood of stories depicting obstructions to reform—even if they are true. While anyone who has dealt with Ukraine in the last twenty-five years has experienced the frustrations of trying to […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 26, 2017

Ukraine Is Really Changing: A Business Can Register in Twenty Minutes or Less

By Victor Liakh and Olexiy Zelivyanskyi

It now takes only twenty minutes to register a business in Ukraine. Since March 2017, entrepreneurs have been able to open and close businesses through a new online portal that the Ministry of Justice and the State Agency for E-Governance are behind. The new service proved popular: in its first six months, it was used […]

Ukraine