Section: Atlantic Council (USA)
The IMF’s Very Tough Love for Ukraine
As Kyiv Slashes Spending, the Economy’s Real Shrinkage This Year May Be 10, Not 6, Percent The International Monetary Fund last month threw what looks like a much-improved financial lifeline to Ukraine—and indeed, the new loan program is welcome help for a desperate need. But a check on the math of one prominent IMF realist suggests that...
In Ukraine, the Real Fight is for Europe
Putin’s War is Not Over Donbas, but a New Russian Empire According to Vladimir Putin, Crimea and Ukraine are where the spiritual sources of Russia’s nationhood lie. And he “always saw the Russians and Ukrainians as a single people. I still think this way now.” People observing the crisis triggered by Putin’s aggression against...
Russia Plans Spring Offensive in Ukraine, Warns Ex-NATO Chief Wesley Clark
Russian-backed separatists are planning a fresh offensive in eastern Ukraine that could come within a matter of months, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, warned March 30. “What is happening now is preparations for a renewed offensive from the east,” and this could take place following Orthodox Easter, on April 12,...
Less-Stringent Minsk II Terms Paved the Way for Renewed Sanctions
On March 19, delegates at the European Union Summit in Brussels agreed to extend tough sanctions against Moscow—until year’s end if necessary—to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to implement the Minsk II ceasefire. Under terms of that deal, signed on February 12, EU sanctions won’t be lifted until Ukraine takes back full control...
Putin’s War Has Consolidated Ukraine
Viewed historically, the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war is the product of four deeper causes and one trigger. First, the Soviet empire’s collapse in 1991 propelled its successor state, Russia, to seek reimperialization for structural and ideological reasons. Second, the emergence of a “fascistoid” (or almost fully fascist) regime made imperial...
Ukraine’s Powerful Billionaire Governor Quits After Clash With Kyiv
Dnipropetrovsk’s Kolomoyskyi: Patriotic, Corrupt, Threatening—Or All Three? Ukrainian billionaire politician Ihor Kolomoyskyi resigned today as governor of Ukraine’s strategically critical Dnipropetrovsk province after clashing with the central government and parliament over control of two state-owned oil-sector companies. In that...
What’s Russia Doing in Africa?
Atlantic Council’s Pham shares insights on Russia’s acitivities on the continent Under pressure from the West over its actions in Ukraine, including the annexation of Crimea, Russia is increasingly turning its attention to Africa, says J. Peter Pham, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. “Recent developments have...
EU Will Kick the Can Down the Road on Russia Sanctions
Europeans do not want to undermine Minsk II, says analyst European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on March 19 are unlikely to either ramp up or lift sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine, says Edward W. Walker, a professor of political science at the University of California at Berkeley. “It’s very likely that the EU will...
Sanctions Are Still the Answer
Last week, UkraineAlert linked to an interesting piece by Clifford Gaddy criticizing the West’s sanctions on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. His point is this: Putin believes that Russia is “under assault” by the West and cannot allow Ukraine “to be brought fully into the sphere of influence of its enemy.” Therefore, the West cannot...
Why has the West forgotten about Crimea?
One year after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in a brazen act that violated international treaties and rewrote Europe’s borders for the first time since World War II, Western governments and the media have largely forgotten the peninsula’s plight.In Russia, however, that land grab is far from forgotten. Crimea annexation day will...
