There could hardly be a better or more depressing symbol of Ukraine’s parlous state than discussions at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference, held every year in September. The gathering, launched in Yalta in 2004, was intended to highlight Ukraine’s growing sophistication and European vocation in one of the country’s most beautiful settings in Crimea. In the intervening years, Ukraine has been beset by domestic corruption, political strife, and ultimately foreign invasion by Russia. Now, a conference named after Yalta has to be held in Kiev because Russia has occupied and illegally annexed Crimea.
Against this troubling backdrop, the question …read more
Source: Brookings
