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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 19, 2019

Putin’s Russia is stagnating but there will be no “Moscow Maidan”

By
Dennis Soltys

The Russian economy is facing stagnation and domestic discontent is on the rise, but the strengths of Putin's authoritarian system mean Ukrainians should not expect a repeat of their own Maidan movement in Moscow anytime soon.


Democratic Transitions


Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Dec 19, 2019

Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev: “The likelihood of Russia helping us is zero”

By
Diane Francis

Andriy Kobolyev took over the reins of Ukraine’s energy giant Naftogaz during the country's darkest hour in March 2014. Despite huge progress, he continues to face political opposition at home and an array of international challenges courtesy of the Kremlin.


European Union


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Dec 19, 2019

Putin’s imperial ambitions mean Ukraine must learn to live with frozen conflict

By
Taras Kuzio

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy says he will make painful concessions to achieve peace with Russia, but Putin's vision of Ukraine as part of Russia's historic heartlands means there is little room for compromise.


Conflict


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Dec 17, 2019

Paris impasse: Time for Zelenskyy to get real about Russia

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's long-awaited first meeting with Vladimir Putin failed to provide a breakthrough towards peace, leading to calls for more realism in relations with Russia.


Conflict


Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding


UkraineAlert

Dec 17, 2019

Mr. Kuleba comes to Washington

By
Melinda Haring

Ukraine’s Deputy PM Dmytro Kuleba visited Washington, DC, last week to reassure the US government that President Zelenskyy’s team remains committed to the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration.


Democratic Transitions


Geopolitics & Energy Security


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

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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Oct 4, 2017

Now Is the Time for Electoral Reform in Ukraine

By Brian Mefford

Ukraine’s parliament has a busy agenda this autumn. Not only is a sweeping healthcare reform package needed to fix the country’s broken system, judicial reform, the creation of a special anticorruption court, and land reform are also pending. In spite of these burning priorities, now is also the best time for parliament to pass electoral […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 4, 2017

US Wrongly Thought Nukes Were Ukraine’s Biggest Problem

By Anders Åslund

Ukraine has played an important role in US foreign policy since it became independent in 1991. So far, this topic has received scant scholarly interest. The most substantial book to date was Sherman Garnett, The Keystone in the Arch: Ukraine in the Emerging Security Environment of Central and Eastern Europe, which was published in 1997, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 4, 2017

History as a Weapon in Russia’s War on Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

The international media will embrace all things Bolshevik this autumn as the world marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution. Audiences can expect everything from gushing feature articles about early Soviet cinematography to edgy op-eds on the place of propaganda posters in twentieth century art. Amid this deluge of Communist kitsch, we are unlikely to […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 2, 2017

Merkel’s Next Challenge: Defeating Putin in Central Eastern Europe

By Péter Krekó

Now that the German elections are over and the victorious Chancellor Angela Merkel is preparing for coalition talks with potential partners, two important questions arise: how will the political changes in Germany affect German-Russian relations, which have become embittered in the last few years? And what impact could the election have on Germany’s influence in […]

Germany Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 29, 2017

Ukraine’s Got a Real Chance to Change. Will It Blow It Again?

By Diane Francis

Ukraine’s future rests on whether its judicial reforms will bring about the rule of law for the first time in its history, or whether political influence continues to contaminate its system. It appears the latter is the case. Today, 111 new Supreme Court nominees were proposed to President Petro Poroshenko for his signature to begin […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 28, 2017

Trump and Poroshenko: The Billionaire Boys Club

By Adrian Karatnycky

Petro Poroshenko scored a prized diplomatic plum for which most heads of state and government aggressively vie: a one-on-one meeting with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In addition to Ukraine’s president, Trump held only nine other private meetings with the heads of state or government […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 28, 2017

How to Keep the Russian Bear Out of Ukraine’s Energy Sector

By Olga Bielkova and Anders Åslund

Russia is at war with Ukraine. This is a hybrid war with many arms. One of them is energy. The Kremlin has weaponized the energy trade between Russia and Ukraine to impose a client-state status on Ukraine. Given its weak negotiating position, Ukraine had to accept Gazprom’s unjustified prices. Facing the threat of supply interruptions, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 28, 2017

Patriot: Working Hard to Bring Home Ukrainian POWs

By Vera Zimmerman

The situation with prisoners of war being held in Ukraine’s occupied Donbas is a tragedy. Some have been locked up for over two years, some tortured, and a few executed. Access to them by international missions is usually denied. Despairing families sometimes fall prey to swindlers seeking ransom. Since the war is officially undeclared, these […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2017

Who Says that Russians Have to Live Under a Corrupt, Aging, and Irrational Strongman?

By Anastazia Clouting

On September 13, a man who cheated death twice came to Washington. Vladimir Kara-Murza, a journalist and deputy head of the nongovernmental organization Open Russia, survived a second state-sanctioned poisoning in February. He has lived to deliver a message for democratic allies in the West. In a speech at the US Capitol, Kara-Murza said, “It […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2017

Four Real Ways to Fix Ukraine Now

By Josh Cohen

Kyiv continues to make great progress stabilizing its economy as Ukraine’s recent sale of a $3 billion Eurobond demonstrates. When it comes to anticorruption reforms, though, it continues to be a case of two steps forward and one step back. To break this stalemate, Ukraine’s Western friends should push Kyiv to take the following four […]

Ukraine