Commentary & Analysis

US Ambassador Discusses Ukraine Crisis, OSCE Role

By Irena Chalupa

Russian-backed militants in Ukraine have detained (and ultimately released) three varied teams monitoring the crisis there under the aegis of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Security threats to the monitors, including those detentions, are hampering the work of the OSCE in its role as the main international body observing and mediating in […]

DIRECT TRANSLATION: Dispatch from Donetsk – How a Cease-Fire Failed

By Irena Chalupa

As Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced an end to the cease-fire by government forces fighting Russian-backed militants in the Donbas region of the southeast, new accounts emerged to show how futile was the ten-day truce. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry reported that the country’s armed forces lost 27 soldiers killed and 69 wounded. And from Donetsk, the […]

Call it Terrorism: The Unacknowledged Tactic of the Russian-Led Insurgency in Ukraine’s East

By John E. Herbst

Once the Kremlin  seized and “annexed” Crimea in late March, it began a campaign designed at a minimum to destabilize Eastern Ukraine.  While we cannot know for sure what Mr. Putin’s maximalist goal is, it includes, at least, establishing an autonomous southeastern Ukraine sensitive to Moscow’s interests. The Kremlin, however, badly miscalculated.  It acted as […]

Amid the ‘Dirty War’ in Ukraine, Hundreds Have Disappeared – and a Few Volunteers Search for Them

By Irena Chalupa

Kateryna Serhatskova, a 26-year-old Russian reporter for the Ukrainian news website Ukrainska Pravda, is becoming one of the main documenters of the “dirty war” for control of the Donbas region of southeastern Ukraine. Serhatskova, who lived for several years in Crimea, travels regularly to some of the most violent and fearful towns in the Donbas […]

US, EU Should Use Sanctions to Push Russia for a Single Base Price for Gas Sales to Europe

By Irena Chalupa

Former US Ambassador Bryza Urges Stepped-Up Effort to End Political Pricing by Kremlin and Gazprom  Russia has unsheathed its gas weapon again, demanding higher prices this spring from Ukraine and announcing last week a cutoff in sales to its neighbor unless paid for in advance. (As Moscow twists Ukraine’s arm over gas, it has retreated […]

The New Ordeal of Nadiya Savchenko

By Irena Chalupa

Ukraine Military’s Most Famous Female Pilot is Now a Captive of Separatist Rebels She looks tired, her face slightly puffy, but her blue eyes are calm and clear, and she appears utterly unafraid. Dressed in military fatigues, her hair cut short, she sits in the corner of a white-tiled room, handcuffed to a set of […]

Conversation with Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev

On the morning of June 12th, the Atlantic Council held a private breakfast conversation with Yerzhan Ashikbayev, Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan. Minister Yerzhan was introduced by Ambassador John Herbst, director of the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center.

Conversation with former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov

On Tuesday, June 10th, the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center welcomed former Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov for an off-the-record roundtable discussion.

Ukrainian National Security Council Official on Russia’s Disinformation War

Kyiv Battles Kremlin Myths, Siumar Says; Is Not Considering Martial Law As Ukraine and its government battle Russian-backed secessionist militias in its two southeastern provinces, it also confronts public fears and suspicions among many of the 6.6 million people there (14 percent of Ukraine’s population). That is largely because Russia has had a free hand […]