Section: Research Organizations & Think Tanks about Ukraine
Russia’s New Energy Accords: Are They for Real?
Given the centrality of energy to the Russian economy and the withering impact of continuing low energy prices and sanctions, Russia has ample reason to promote energy deals with anyone it can find. The annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum has historically served as a venue for announcing major deals, and this year’s event...
Putin Isn’t Winging It
After US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Sochi on May 12, a barrage of articles urged Western leaders to provide Russian President Vladimir Putin with an off-ramp for his various Ukrainian adventures. Even more disheartening than the volume was the growing diversity of reasons for giving Putin a pass. At least three arguments were...
Wake Up Europe. Peace Doesn’t Preserve Itself
Amid multiple signs of an impending battle in Ukraine, NATO and Ukraine have stepped up their response. But so has Russia. Ukrainian officials claim to have 60,000 troops in the field against an estimated 54,000 Russian forces in the Donbas. A large-scale conventional theater in the Donbas is a real danger this summer. But Moscow is not merely...
Siemens Reportedly Skirts Sanctions on Crimea, Kremlin Slates UN Srebrenica Resolution
Plus, EU to help ‘frontline’ Hungary with migrant influx, and energy challenges lie ahead for Kazakhstan. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Why Ukraine Struggles to Reform
Listen to the proclamations of Ukraine’s political leaders and you might think the country is in the midst of rapid change. On June 4, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared that “reforms are the key word…The countdown of the period of reforms has started.”There is much talk of reform, but the reality is less...
Is This the End of the Caucasus Emirate?
As several North Caucasus commanders transfer their allegiance to the Islamic State, an IS spokesman announces the creation of a ‘Caucasus Province.’ From openDemocracy. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Talks Collapse; Ukraine Halts Purchases of Russian Gas
Ukraine suspended its purchases of Russian natural gas after European Union-mediated price talks … …read more Source: American Security Council...
Belarus’s National Survival Formula
Belarus’s survival and further development in a tough neighborhood is conditioned by the economy, a sense of nationalism, and geopolitical maneuvering between the major centers of power, Russia and the collective West. According to Yury Drakakhrust of Tut.by and Radio Liberty, the new geopolitical situation in Europe is a source of both...
Moscow Appears to Be Playing a Most Dangerous Game With the Islamic State
In the wake of terrorist attacks by the Islamic State (IS) across the Middle East and Europe, Russian diplomats and the Kremlin-controlled media have been working overtime to suggest that the West will not be able to contain IS unless it secures Moscow’s cooperation. And Western countries will, presumably, only be able to achieve such...
Putin’s Use of the ‘Nuclear Card’
President Vladimir Putin continues to use strong rhetoric not only linked to what he sees as Kyiv’s “responsibilities” to adhere to Minsk II but also in an increasingly controversial area of Russia’s military modernization: namely the future role of the country’s nuclear deterrent. Moscow has also claimed that Kyiv’s...
