Hopes of a renewed partnership between Russia and the West in the wake of Putin's election victory are likely to meet their sternest and most immediate test over the same issue which most strained relations between the two sides in the runup to the Russian... MORE

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's visits to Georgia and Azerbaijan on March 15-17 highlighted the Western orientation of the three countries and their shared interests in the Caspian-Black Sea area. For the second consecutive year, Russia has interrupted oil supplies to Ukraine ahead of the agricultural... MORE

The talks in Tbilisi and Baku evidenced a firm consensus among Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan in support of the principle of territorial integrity of states and against "separatism." Kuchma declared with heavy emphasis that "territorial integrity must be the iron rule" in resolving those conflicts.... MORE

Addressing the Georgian parliament, Kuchma listed the priorities of Ukrainian policy in the following order: "aiming for integration in the European Union, deepening partnership with the United States and strengthening cooperation with Russia and other CIS countries." The Ukrainian-Georgian joint statement recorded the "common goal... MORE

Back in Ukraine, the Defense Minister, General Oleksandr Kuzmuk, lifted a curtain corner on plans to create a peacekeeping battalion of GUUAM, the five-country group of Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova. According to Kuzmuk, the battalion will be a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Ukrainian unit. He gave no... MORE

There was little during the past fortnight to suggest that Russia was entering the final few weeks of a presidential election. The reason, of course, was that hardly anyone harbored any doubts over who the winner would be. The only real question was whether Acting... MORE

The Putin bandwagon's momentum appear unstoppable despite the fact that the acting president's "practical work" was not going according to plan in at least one key area. Despite the frequent declarations by Russia's generals that the military phase of the "antiterrorist" operation in Chechnya had... MORE

Not surprisingly, relations between Russia and the West also continued to revolve around Moscow's bloody war in Chechnya. The war's centrality was evident in the fact that U.S. and European leaders, who have heartily embraced Putin and who are pursuing friendly relations with Moscow more... MORE

The North Atlantic Council (NAC) held a session in Kyiv on March 1-2 in its concurrent role as the NATO-Ukraine Commission. Attended by envoys of NATO's nineteen allied countries and by senior officials of partner country Ukraine, the forum set major precedents: it was NAC's... MORE

Kuchma's recent reelection paved the way for the formation of a reform-oriented government and center-right parliamentary majority. The new Prime Minister, Viktor Yushchenko, the Verkhovna Rada's new chairman, Ivan Plyushch, and the relevant committee chairmen, meeting with the allied delegation, expressed the political commitment of... MORE