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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

Apr 24, 2025

A pro-Putin peace deal in Ukraine would destabilize the entire world

By
Elena Davlikanova, Lesia Ogryzko

Handing Russia victory in Ukraine may temporarily create the illusion of peace, but in reality it would set the stage for a dangerous new era of international insecurity marked by militarization, nuclear proliferation, and wars of aggression, write Elena Davlikanova and Lesia Ogryzko.

Conflict
International Norms


UkraineAlert

Apr 22, 2025

Putin’s cynical Easter ceasefire stunt backfires as Zelenskyy calls his bluff

By
Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin’s surprise Easter ceasefire announcement was clearly a cynical stunt, but it did inadvertently serve an important purpose by underlining the simple fact that Russia can end the war whenever it chooses, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Apr 22, 2025

US-led peace talks hampered by Trump’s reluctance to pressure Putin

By
Olivia Yanchik

US-led efforts to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine are being hampered by Donald Trump’s reluctance to put pressure on Vladimir Putin and force the Kremlin leader to accept a compromise peace, writes Olivia Yanchik.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions


UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2025

Putin is attempting to intimidate Merz with yet more Russian red lines

By
Peter Dickinson

As Germany’s next chancellor Friedrich Merz prepares to boost support for Ukraine, the Kremlin is already seeking to deter him with intimidation tactics, writes Peter Dickinson. Merz’s response will help define whether he is capable of leading Europe.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2025

The Ukrainian army is now Europe’s most credible security guarantee

By
Pavlo Verkhniatskyi

As Europe confronts the new geopolitical realities of an expansionist Russia and an isolationist United States, the continent’s most credible security guarantee is now the Ukrainian Armed Forces, writes Pavlo Verkhniatskyi.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Apr 15, 2025

US funding cuts create openings for Russian disinformation in Ukraine

By
Muhammad Tahir

Drastic recent cuts to US funding for Ukraine’s independent media will create unprecedented opportunities for Russian disinformation, writes Muhammad Tahir.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Apr 15, 2025

Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian civilians cast shadow over peace talks

By
Mercedes Sapuppo

Russia’s Palm Sunday ballistic missile strike on Sumy was the latest in a series of attacks on Ukrainian cities that have killed dozens of civilians and cast a long shadow over Donald Trump’s efforts to initiate peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Conflict
Missile Defense


UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2025

A pragmatic peace plan for Ukraine

By
Mykola Bielieskov

A pragmatic and sustainable peace is possible in Ukraine if Kyiv’s European partners dramatically increase their own defense spending while significantly strengthening the Ukrainian military, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

European Union
NATO


UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2025

Ukrainian victims of war crimes need new approaches to justice

By
Nadia Volkova, Eric Witte, Arie Mora

Adopting new approaches to the issue of accountability for alleged war crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine can bring hope for justice and lay the foundations for a sustainable peace, write Nadia Volkova, Eric Witte, and Arie Mora.

Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity


UkraineAlert

Apr 9, 2025

Putin’s Arctic ambitions: Russia eyes natural resources and shipping routes

By
Bohdan Ustymenko

Russia’s plans to expand its influence in the Arctic region and dominate the Northern Sea Route together with China pose serious security challenges for the international community, writes Bohdan Ustymenko.

China
Conflict

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

Jan 4, 2016

New Russian Management of the Donbas Signifies Putin May Be Ready to Negotiate

By Anders Åslund

On December 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed one of his close, trusted aides, Boris Gryzlov, Russia’s representative in the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, which concluded the two Minsk agreements on the Donbas in September 2014 and February 2015. This appointment suggests an important change in Russia’s policy toward Ukraine. Gryzlov is a heavyweight […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 22, 2015

Civil Service Reform May Revolutionize Ukraine

By Josh Cohen

It took a staggering sixteen months and it wasn’t easy. The old guard resisted it every step of the way. Ukraine’s parliament passed civil service reform, one of the highest priorities of the Euromaidan’s young reformers, on December 10. The Reanimation Package of Reforms (RPR), a civic group, described the development as “a real miracle.” […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2015

An Alliance Deterred

By Patrick Stephenson

NATO leaders intended the Alliance’s Trident Juncture military exercises, in part, to send a message to Russia that they would not hesitate to defend allied territory. That intention was commendable. But one wonders how exercises in the western Mediterranean will deter Russian ambitions that lie 3,000 km away in Ukraine and on the borders of […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2015

Nord Stream 2 Makes No Sense and Must Be Stopped

By Anders Åslund

Europe is saturated with energy and demand falls steadily, as Europe saves energy. From 2004 to 2014, the primary energy consumption in the European Union declined by 12 percent and its consumption of natural gas fell by 21 percent. Yet last June, Russia’s state-controlled natural gas corporation Gazprom announced its intention to build Nord Stream […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2015

The Kremlin’s Dangerous New Threat in Ukraine

By Ihor Kozak

Fighting continues to gradually intensify in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin-backed militants are now using heavy weapons, including tanks, artillery, and ferocious Grad rocket systems, sporadically. Moscow’s rationale behind this latest escalation is to achieve a frozen conflict by gradually sabotaging the execution of the Minsk II ceasefire agreement. Russian President Vladimir Putin likely realizes that […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2015

“From Russia with Cash”: Dirty Money Unchecked in London

By Amanda Abrams

The numbers are staggering. Annually, $1 trillion is stolen by corrupt officials from countries around the globe. That money needs to be spent, or laundered, and much of it goes into big anonymous real estate deals in the United Kingdom, which is seeing £1 billion in unrecorded capital inflows per month. The main source of […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 17, 2015

The Revolutionary Path to Reform for Ukraine’s National Police

By Melinda Haring

Ukrainians are growing increasingly impatient with Ukraine’s lack of reforms. But the country’s police reforms are working, says Khatia Dekanoidze, the newly-appointed chief of the Ukrainian National Police. How does she know? “The number one tool to…measure effectiveness of police is trust,” Dekanoidze said on December 15 at an Atlantic Council event. Dekanoidze joined John […]

The Caucasus Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 16, 2015

“Ukraine is a work in progress by Putin,” Says General Wesley Clark

By Diane Francis

Retired US Army General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, has campaigned since 2014 to convince Western governments to provide lethal aid to Ukraine to fend off Russia’s occupation of 9 percent of its territory. In a wide-ranging interview, he talked about why this hasn’t happened and about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 16, 2015

Should Ukraine Forget Its History?

By Alexander J. Motyl

On November 25, 2010, while on a state visit to Kyiv, Israel’s President Shimon Peres stated that, “If Ukrainians were to ask me for advice, I would say: forget history.” Coming from the president of a country steeped in history, the comment was at first glance bizarre. Directed at a country embroiled in seemingly endless […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 14, 2015

Thank You, George!

By Kateryna Smagliy

In his 2011 essay, “My Philanthropy,” George Soros described his approach to charitable giving. “I relish confronting harsh reality, and I am drawn to tackling seemingly insoluble problems,” he wrote. Indeed, it is with a consistent determination, generosity, and unwavering faith in Ukraine’s potential that Soros established the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) twenty-five years ago […]

Ukraine