Ukrainian President Replaces Governor of War-Torn Donetsk Province
On June 11, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko fired General Oleksandr Kikhtenko as governor of Donetsk province, roughly half of which is controlled by Moscow-backed militants. Like his predecessor, local steel tycoon Serhy Taruta, who was ditched last fall and elected to parliament from Mariupol (Mariupil), Kikhtenko apparently proved to be...
Push To Arm Ukraine Roars Back In Senate
June 16, 2015 …read more Source: Center on Global...
Is Russia really a threat to NATO?
Michael O’Hanlon joined a Russia Today panel to discuss the ongoing crisis between Russia and NATO. While O’Hanlon notes that bringing Ukraine into NATO would be counterproductive, a new security architecture for the region — one that includes Moscow and NATO — is a good idea. Authors Michael E. O’Hanlon Publication:...
Harsh Realities in Ukraine
Perhaps, rather than thinking about some grand architecture for the future, it would make more sense now for all the sides of the current Russian-Western conflict to think about stepping away from the brink. …read more Source: Carnegie Endowment for International...
Reflections on Lost Chances: Ukraine and the CIS
As the pretend, latest, pointless ceasefire in the Donbass celebrates another week of artillery-fueled “peace,”complete with more destroyed infrastructure and more lives pointlessly lost; and Russia continues to move men, materiel, and memorial markers into Ukraine, the world remains riveted on … Greece, and the inevitable bailout headed its way....
European Games Show Baku’s Progress; Will the West Recognize It?
Friday, in Baku, the first European Games opened. Spectacle and sport, international competition and unity, all of the things the world claims to want when we show our best sides in peace. It is yet another step in Baku’s emergence as a serious and aspiring democracy. It is a sign that decades of reform and growth are producing a profoundly...
The EU and Moldova: How to Liberate a Captured State
BUCHAREST— Local elections in Moldova this weekend have strengthened the position of the incumbent government, despite allegations of corruption on a massive scale. Earlier this year, around $1 billion — about 12 percent of the country’s gross domestic product — disappeared from three Moldovan banks in non-performing loans reportedly made...
Ukraine Peace Talks Resume, Macedonia Frees Captive Migrants
Plus, four Tajikistani border guards released after months as Taliban hostages, and Kazakhstan nears the finish of a WTO membership marathon. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
OSCE Secretary General and ODIHR Director meet with President, other high-level officials on Belarus visit
MINSK, 16 June 2015 – Strengthening OSCE engagement with Belarus was the focus of a two-day visit to Minsk by OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Michael Georg Link which concluded today. Zannier and Link met President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Foreign...
The Muddled Thinking at the G-7 Only Encourages Putin
Leaders at the recent G-7 summit reaffirmed their commitment to keeping sanctions on Russia in place. They also agreed that sanctions will likely be extended until 2016 because Russia has failed to implement the Minsk II ceasefire agreement. But the summit ended on a disappointing note: The summit communiqué and all the G-7 leaders indicated that...
