In 2019, Ukraine’s new president Volodymyr Zelenskyy put a premium on bringing peace to eastern Ukraine. His government managed to reconvene the Normandy Summit talks in November, negotiate disengagement in several towns, and organize two prisoner exchanges. But the coronavirus pandemic has taken primary focus in Ukraine and across the globe. The next Normandy Summit, originally scheduled for April 2020, has been postponed until after the coronavirus crisis ends. The pandemic also led to a months-long closure of Ukraine. After June 10, the first entry and exit checkpoints along the demarcation line are slated to reopen. As focus shifts away from the coronavirus, what is the current situation in the Donbas, has the conflict changed, and what are the prospects for peace?
Victor Liakh, president of the East Europe Foundation; Oksana Syroid, president of the Samopomich Union political party and co-chair of the Lviv Security Forum; Dr. Andreas Umland, nonresident fellow at the Center for European Security of the Institute on International Relations in Prague and principal investigator for the Program on European, Regional and Russian Studies at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future in Kyiv; and Ambassador Kurt Volker, distinguished fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, discuss the current situation in the Donbas and prospects for peace. Ambassador John Herbst, director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, moderates the discussion.
issue spotlight
Europe in crisis
War in Ukraine
Experts from across the Atlantic Council are assessing the consequences of Russia’s February 2022 invasion, including what it means for Ukraine’s sovereignty, Europe’s security, and the United States’ leadership.
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The Eurasia Center’s mission is to promote policies that strengthen stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe in the West to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the East.