Latest articles from Vladimir Socor
NATO Can Refloat Romania’s Black Sea Naval Initiative (Part Three)
*To read Part Two, please click here. It was a summit of modest expectations and modest results for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Warsaw on July 8–9. These results are of an interim nature: building blocks for further decisions at upcoming ministerial meetings,... MORE
NATO Can Refloat Romania’s Black Sea Naval Initiative (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. It was a summit of modest expectations and modest results for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Warsaw on July 8–9. These results are of an interim nature: building blocks for further decisions at upcoming ministerial meetings,... MORE
NATO Can Refloat Romania’s Black Sea Naval Initiative (Part One)
It was a summit of modest expectations and modest results for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Warsaw on July 8–9. These results are of an interim nature: building blocks for further decisions at upcoming ministerial meetings, not waiting until the next summit. The... MORE
NATO’s Summit Takes Half-Way Measures on the Black Sea Region (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. It was a summit of modest expectations and modest results for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Warsaw on July 8–9. These results are of an interim nature: building blocks for further decisions at upcoming ministerial meetings,... MORE
NATO’s Summit Takes Half-Way Measures on the Black Sea Region (Part One)
It was a summit of modest expectations and modest results for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Warsaw on July 8–9. These results are of an interim nature: building blocks for further decisions at upcoming ministerial meetings, not waiting until the next summit. The... MORE
US Diplomacy, Ukraine Diverge on the Minsk ‘Agreement’
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s public message in Kyiv on July 7 (see accompanying article) reaffirms, broadly, the talking points that Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland had been delivering in Kyiv since May 2015 (see EDM, May 26). It was at that point that Kerry... MORE
John Kerry’s Unwelcome Message in Ukraine
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland held talks with President Petro Poroshenko and other Ukrainian officials, in Kyiv on July 7. At the joint news conference, Kerry urged Ukraine to help jump-start the implementation of the Minsk armistice through unilateral... MORE
US, Russia Reactivate Bilateral Negotiations on Ukraine (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. President Barack Obama’s administration seems to pursue two contradictory goals: support Ukraine’s sovereignty and security in general terms but, at the same time, seek a short-term compromise that might satisfy Russia in Ukraine’s east. Preoccupied with “legacy” issues... MORE
US, Russia Reactivate Bilateral Negotiations on Ukraine (Part One)
US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland completed another round of shuttle diplomacy in Kyiv and Moscow (June 22–24), following up on her visits to the two capitals in April and May, on direct instructions from the White House. This effort will undoubtedly continue after... MORE
The Black Sea Region: NATO’s Exposed Sector on the Eastern Flank (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. Newly entrenched on the Crimean peninsula, Russia has appropriated the title to large parts of Ukraine’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). According to the treaty on Crimea’s accession to Russia (a constitutional act in Russia), “the... MORE