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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

Jun 3, 2020

Bringing startup culture to the Ukrainian parliament

By
Diane Francis

Bringing startup culture to Ukrainian politics: 34-year-old Kira Rudik is a Ukrainian IT industry superstar who entered parliament last summer and now leads the country’s reformist Holos Party.


Democratic Transitions


Technology & Innovation


UkraineAlert

Jun 2, 2020

Trump’s G7 invite for Putin will encourage more war

By
Yuliia Popyk

US President Donald Trump wants to invite Vladimir Putin to the next G7 summit, despite the Russian leader's refusal to end the aggression against Ukraine that led to his initial suspension from G8 in 2014.


Conflict


France


UkraineAlert

May 31, 2020

To stop Putin, the Western world must revisit the 1994 Budapest Memorandum

By
Oleksii Reznikov

Ukraine's Deputy PM for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksii Reznikov says trust must be rebuilt before there can be peace with Russia. Returning to the framework of the Budapest Memorandum would be a step in the right direction, he argues.


Conflict


Nuclear Nonproliferation


UkraineAlert

May 28, 2020

Zelenskyy at home: One year of domestic reform?

By
Adrian Hoefer

Since his election last year, President Zelenskyy and his government have pledged to transform and energize Ukraine’s economy. Those pledges have not been realized. Why, and what should the government do this year to live up to those promises?


Economy & Business


Political Reform


UkraineAlert

May 28, 2020

Can post-pandemic Ukraine prevent another exodus?

By
Michael Druckman

As Ukraine looks towards the post-coronavirus recovery period, the country needs to think hard about how it intends to persuade millions of Ukrainian migrant workers to build their futures at home.


Coronavirus


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

May 27, 2020

Ukrainians who fled Putin face new pandemic realities

By
Iryna Matviyishyn

For the estimated 1.4 million Ukrainians internally displaced by Putin's war, the past six years have brought traumatic change. These IDPs are now facing the further challenge of the coronavirus pandemic.


Conflict


Coronavirus


UkraineAlert

May 26, 2020

Ukrainian local elections: Will Zelenskyy win again?

By
Mykola Vorobiov

Ukraine will hold local elections in October 2020. This will be the first big test for President Zelenskyy and his Servant of the People party since landslide victories in 2019's presidential and parliamentary votes.


Democratic Transitions


Elections


UkraineAlert

May 26, 2020

Statement by former US Ambassadors to Ukraine

By
Atlantic Council Eurasia Center

Former US ambassadors to Ukraine emphasize the importance of the US-Ukraine relationship.


Politics & Diplomacy


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

May 24, 2020

Ukraine’s showbiz president shuns mainstream media

By
Tetiana Gaiduk

Volodymyr Zelenskyy won the Ukrainian presidency with a campaign that positioned him as an everyman alternative to the country's discredited political elite, but a lack of media engagement now risks undermining his democratic credentials.


Democratic Transitions


Internet


UkraineAlert

May 21, 2020

Russo-Ukrainian War: Zelenskyy unable to find path to peace with Putin

By
Peter Dickinson

President Zelenskyy’s talk of a new approach to peace with Russia proved hugely attractive to the war-weary Ukrainian public in 2019. However, one year on, there is very little to show for this initial optimism.


Conflict


Russia

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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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2018

Why Is Hungary Blocking Ukraine’s Western Integration?

By Péter Krekó and Patrik Szicherle

For the first time since the Maidan revolution, Ukraine’s road to the transatlantic community is being actively blocked not only by Russia but by an EU and NATO member state as well: Hungary. While Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been a vocal critic of sanctions and is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strongest allies […]

Hungary Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 11, 2018

Why Are We Letting Russia Destroy a 16th Century Palace in Crimea?

By Halya Coynash

There are compelling grounds for fearing that Russia’s restoration work on the world-renowned Khan’s Palace in Bakhchysarai could forever destroy this vital monument of Crimean Tatar cultural heritage. While Russia denies the accusations, photos smuggled off the site are alarming, as are the construction company’s and architectural firm’s lack of experience in restoration work. The […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 10, 2018

Ukraine’s Got Plenty of Young, Principled, Genuinely European-Oriented Politicians

By Melinda Haring

Bloomberg columnist Leonid Bershidsky recently claimed that “it’s not easy to find younger, more principled, genuinely European-oriented politicians in Ukraine, but they exist.” In fact, Mr. Bershidsky, it’s really not that hard. In 2017, we profiled the promising and idealistic Olena Sotnyk and Sergiy Gusovsky, a Ukrainian MP and a member of the Kyiv city […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 10, 2018

Ukraine: What to Expect in 2018

By Ruslan Minich

One should not have wild expectations for Ukraine this year. Although the country is more than a year away from the March 2019 presidential election, structural reforms won’t be a focus, international donors are getting impatient, and a large amount of debt is coming due.   What should we expect and follow in Ukraine this […]

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Jan 8, 2018

This Time It Will Be Very, Very Different

By Diane Francis

In 2014, a 16-year-old Ukrainian, nicknamed Maley, watched the Euromaidan Revolution and Russian invasion on television and contacted his local army recruitment office to sign up. His calls went unanswered, so he took a train from the Carpathians to the front, armed with his grandfather’s hunting rifle and a brass plate bought by his mother […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2018

With Russia on the Sidelines, China Moves Aggressively into Ukraine

By James Brooke

On Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, the most active foreign actor is not Russia. It’s China. On the Danube, Chinese investors are mulling buying a Ukrainian river shipping company that could insert Chinese products deep into Eastern Europe. At the two big ports flanking Odesa, China Harbor Engineering Company just finished dredging Yuzhny and now is […]

China Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2018

How to Bring Peace to the Donbas. (Yes, It’s Possible)

By Alexander Vershbow

Last month Vladimir Putin reopened the door to the creation of a peacekeeping force in Eastern Ukraine. Deploying such a force, if done properly, could bring peace to a conflict that has dragged on for nearly four years. Without it, the conflict could return to a boil, jeopardizing Ukraine’s stability and destroying any basis for […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2018

Slain Lawyer Becomes an Icon of Unfinished Reforms in Ukraine

By Maxim Eristavi

The holiday season ended abruptly on January 1 as Ukrainians learned about the murder of lawyer and human rights activist Iryna Nozdrovska. This is a gruesome start for 2018, even for a country at war. We stopped having regular New Year’s holidays years ago. Not many felt like celebrating while soldiers were dying in the […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2018

In Kyiv and Chisinau, Citizens Thirsty for Reform But the Governments Aren’t

By Dumitru Alaiba

On December 1, the European Union withheld payment of €600 million to Ukraine for falling short on four reforms. The deal is conditional, and this final tranche is on hold until Ukraine follows through on its commitments. Meanwhile, one week before, at the Eastern Partnership Summit, the EU agreed to provide Moldova with €100 million […]

Moldova Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2018

Why No Major Western Defense Company Will Invest in Ukraine

By Michael Carpenter

One of the biggest challenges facing Ukraine today is how to transform its inefficient, overcentralized, and opaque defense industry into a leading supplier of weapons and equipment for its frontline troops and an engine for economic growth and foreign currency revenues. Both of these goals are within reach, but only if Ukraine’s leaders can summon […]

Russia Ukraine