Section: Atlantic Council (USA)
Obama Silent on Violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, While Putin Plans Shuttle Diplomacy
Absence of US Leadership May Have Consequences in Syria, Ukraine, and Beyond The United States has been conspicuously absent during the latest crisis over Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh (NK). The White House has not yet issued a statement on this unprecedented uptick in violence. US Secretary of State John Kerry’s...
New Schedule for Minsk Implementation Urgently Needed
For several months, the Minsk peace process has been in a stalemate. Meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group and the Normandy Four have failed to make progress on the issue of elections in the Russian-occupied areas of the Donbas.The fourth provision of the Minsk II agreement envisages that local elections should be discussed “in accordance with...
Ukraine’s Got a Real Shot at NATO Membership
A Reply to Andreas Umland Andreas Umland writes that it would be senseless for Ukraine to aspire to NATO membership though it is desirable. The main reasons he cites are the dawning realization of the danger and potent threat that Russia presents to both Eastern Europe and the West, coupled with a residual unwillingness to accept the full...
Ukraine’s Understandable But Senseless Hope for NATO Membership
Moscow’s aggression against Kyiv has led to a marked growth in Ukrainians’ support for their country’s accession to NATO. During the last two years, Ukrainian public opinion has made a U-turn, from skepticism of the Atlantic alliance to an enthusiastic embrace. Until 2013, almost two-thirds of Ukrainians strongly opposed NATO...
Now Is Not the Time to Bury Minsk
Is the Minsk peace process dead?Not yet. But it is not being respected, and a great deal of work is being done to undermine the process and essentially call it off. Sometimes this is even being done by well-meaning people who actually support Ukraine in one way or another.Comments and tweets from politicians or diplomats involved with Ukraine...
The New York Times Was Right about Ukraine’s Corruption Problem
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko dismissed the recent New York Times editorial “Ukraine’s Unyielding Corruption” as “part of the hybrid war against Ukraine” at a press conference on April 1 in Washington, DC. The editorial’s tone and substance were certainly lightyears away from the President’s own rosy assessment...
The Battles Are in the Donbas, But the War Is in the Energy Sector
The energy sector is key to the success of Ukraine’s economic reforms, battle against corruption, and independence from Russia. Ukraine carried out far-reaching reforms to the energy sector in 2015; now it must complete the substantial reforms that have been undertaken.Energy is the linchpin of Ukraine’s dependence on Russia. The...
Revealing Europe’s Best-Kept Secret
Early April will see the closure of Ukraine Today, which had been the only full-time English language TV news service offering Ukrainian perspectives to international audiences. The channel will reportedly continue online, but the end of its broadcasting is a sobering development hinting at the difficulties of finding sufficient funding for major...
Shokin’s Revenge: Ukraine’s Odious Prosecutor General Fires Honest Deputy Before Parliament Sacks Him
On March 29, the Ukrainian Rada finally approved the resignation of Ukraine’s disreputable Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. He was voted out with an overwhelming majority of 289 votes, including 114 of the 134 deputies of the Poroshenko Bloc. On February 16, Shokin was forced to submit his letter of resignation in connection with the...
US Presidential Politics Play Poorly in Odesa
US President Barack Obama’s refusal to militarily defend Ukraine against Russian aggression has sent a chill halfway around the world to Odesa, the Black Sea port only 200 kilometers by warship from Crimea.In the April issue of The Atlantic, Obama says: “The fact is that Ukraine, which is a non-NATO country, is going to be vulnerable to...
