FEATURED COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

UK Defense Minister: Putin Directly Overseeing Troop Buildup Near Ukraine

New Atlanticist
May 27, 2025

British ambassador to the US: The UK must ‘become less dependent on America, while remaining inseparably linked’

By
Peter Mandelson

In speaking at the Atlantic Council’s 2025 Christopher J. Makins Lecture, Peter Mandelson outlined how the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe can foster peace through military, economic, and technological strength.

Conflict
Defense Industry

UK Defense Minister: Putin Directly Overseeing Troop Buildup Near Ukraine

New Atlanticist
May 15, 2025

Can the EU-UK summit lead to a new post-Brexit partnership?

By
Ed Owen

With shared challenges at home and abroad, the United Kingdom and European Union have an opportunity to renew their trade and security ties.

Defense Industry
Economy & Business

UK Defense Minister: Putin Directly Overseeing Troop Buildup Near Ukraine

New Atlanticist
Jan 27, 2025

The case for a US-UK trade and investment agreement

By
L. Daniel Mullaney

As US President Donald Trump begins his second term, the United Kingdom is the right partner for the United States, and now is the right time for a deal.

Economy & Business
Politics & Diplomacy

Featured Event

Public Event
Tue, May 27, 2025 • 9:00 am ET

The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson on Britain in an enduring transatlantic relationship

British Ambassador to the United States The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson speaks at the 2025 Christopher J. Makins lecture to discuss the significance of the transatlantic relationship during this unprecedented geopolitical period.

Economy & Business
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Content

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and UK Minister of Defense Philip Hammond

NATOSource

Mar 28, 2014

UK Defense Minister: Putin Directly Overseeing Troop Buildup Near Ukraine

By Adam Entous, Wall Street Journal

Russian President Vladimir Putin is directly overseeing a military buildup near Ukraine and it is not clear to what extent his defense minister and others in the government are involved in the decision making, British Defense Minister Philip Hammond

Russia Ukraine
Laurent Fabius, May 29, 2007

NATOSource

Mar 18, 2014

France Offers to Halt Russian Ship Sale if UK Hits Oligarchs

By Hugh Carnegy and Peter Spiegel, Financial Times

France says it could suspend its controversial deal to sell helicopter assault ships to Russia if more sanctions are adopted against Moscow over Ukraine – but only if Britain also takes action against Russian oligarchs in London.

France Russia
President of Ukraine Oleksandr V. Turchynov, March 4, 2014

NATOSource

Mar 12, 2014

Ukrainian President Rebuffs Russian ‘Imperialism’

By Oleksandr V. Turchynov, New York Times

The Kremlin had a strategy designed to weaken Ukraine and its government by prying some regions away from Kiev’s control and establishing enclaves in the south and east similar to Transnistria in Moldova and Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia.

Russia Ukraine
Members of the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery training for the ceremonial season

NATOSource

Mar 12, 2014

Europe Needs a Reset on Defense

By Editors of the Financial Times

The nations of the EU must stop their collective decline as a military power.

Europe & Eurasia NATO
UK Foreign Minister William Hague, Sept. 8, 2011

NATOSource

Mar 10, 2014

UK Foreign Minister: NATO Members Should Increase Defense Spending in Response to Ukraine Crisis

By James Kirkup, Telegraph

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, has said that Russian aggression in Crimea should force Nato to rethink its defence cuts.

Missile Defense NATO
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, March 17, 2011

NATOSource

Mar 10, 2014

Polish Foreign Minister: ‘We Cannot Let Putin Get Away With’ Annexation of Crimea

By Cristina Odone, Telegraph

Russia must not be allowed to redraw the map of Europe, Radek Sikorski, Poland’s Foreign Minister, tells the Telegraph ahead of a meeting with William Hague on Monday.

European Union International Organizations
Cold Response 2014

NATOSource

Mar 10, 2014

Sixteen Nations Participating in Norway’s Cold Response Military Exercise This Week

By Norwwegian Armed Forces

The main purpose of Cold Response is to train participants in how to conduct combat operations in cold weather conditions.

Europe & Eurasia France
France's Mistral warship, November 25, 2006

NATOSource

Mar 5, 2014

Russia’s Mistral Warship Sets Sail for First Time

By AP

A French-built warship designed to strengthen Russia’s ability to deploy troops, tanks and helicopter gunships is getting its first test run Wednesday — just as Western powers are trying to rein in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military threat to Ukraine.

France Russia
HMS Ark Royal

NATOSource

Feb 19, 2014

France Contributed $294 Million to Subsidize British Carriers

By John Lichfield, Independent

The French government’s public spending watchdog protested this week that a defence co-operation agreement signed by Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair in 2006 led to “a French contribution pure and simple to the financing of [two] British aircraft carriers in their early development phase.”

France United Kingdom
Time to Improve Trilateral Cooperation on Defense

NATOSource

Feb 12, 2014

NATO’s New Power Triad: US, UK, and France Should Deepen Defense Cooperation

By James Stavridis and Leo Michel, Foreign Policy

At the strategic level, informal trilateral consultations among top U.S., British, and French policymakers and military officials are nothing new.

France NATO
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Experts

Fellow

Andrea Rigoni

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Cybersecurity Digital Policy

Fellow

Tobias Ellwood

Distinguished Fellow

GeoStrategy Initiative

Politics & Diplomacy Security & Defense

Fellow

Richard Hurowitz

Nonresident senior fellow

Europe Center

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

Fellow

Ed Owen

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

Fellow

Lisa Aronsson

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia NATO

Staff

James Batchik

Associate Director

Europe Center

Central Europe Digital Policy
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