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Latest Articles about Europe's East
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Ukraine’s China Policy: A (Not so) Delicate Balance
Reporting on the saga of Chinese efforts to purchase Ukraine’s strategic Motor Sich aerospace production company frequently casts Kyiv as a weak “pawn” on the geopolitical chessboard, caught in the middle of the larger rivalry between Beijing and Washington. Yet Ukraine is pursuing its own... MORE
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Russians One Step Closer to Taking Over Handling of Belarusian Oil Product Exports?
On January 25, the government of the Russian Federation adopted a draft version of a bilateral agreement with Belarus on the diversion of some Belarusian refined oil product exports from the Baltic States’ transshipment terminals to Russian seaports (TASS, January 27). At first glance, the... MORE
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The Complexities of Measuring Belarusian Public Opinion
On February 11–12, the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly (ABPA) will gather together 2,700 delegates, including representatives of all levels of executive power in the country, members of the parliament, and directors of Belarus’s largest production units. This ostensibly trendsetting event comes amid new findings regarding shifting... MORE
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The ‘Wagner Affair’ in Belarus and Its Implications for Ukraine
At the end of last year, former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko (June 2014–May 2019) announced in an interview that, back in 2018, he had initiated a special operation to detain mercenaries belonging to the notorious Russian private military company (PMC) Wagner Group (News.ru, December 31,... MORE
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Does the Normandy Group on the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Have a Future? (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. Kyiv is pinning its hopes on the new administration of United States President Joseph Biden to help rebalance and restart both the Normandy forum and the Minsk Contact Group (see Part One in EDM, February 4). The Minsk... MORE
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Russian Authorities Redouble Pressure to Preserve Crimeans’ Loyalty
Moscow and most Russian regions saw a series of huge rallies at the end of January and early February, in which protesters demanded the immediate release of Russian dissident and opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Remarkably, on January 23, a crowd of several hundred pro-Navalny demonstrators... MORE
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Does the Normandy Group on the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Have a Future? (Part One)
Ukraine is multiplying calls for changing the composition of the “Normandy Four” group (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine) and its derivative Minsk Contact Group (see below). The Kremlin has effectively used these negotiation forums from 2014 to date in order to conserve, instead of end, its... MORE
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New Year, New Battles: China Does Not Plan to Give up Motor Sich?
For the Ukrainian company JSC Motor Sich, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of engines for missiles, helicopters and jets, the year started with new battles over ownership. Chinese investors have reinitiated their earlier efforts to take over Ukraine’s top defense producer, and Kyiv is... MORE
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Belarusian Realities: Between Dreams and Policy Objectives
Back on August 17, 2020, shocked by a week of powerful post-election protests, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka openly conceded he had overstayed his welcome at the helm of power and promised the workers of the rebellious Wheel Tractor Factory a new national constitution and early... MORE
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Strategic Thinking and a Fight for Belarusian Democracy
“Remember, I said a year ago […] that perhaps a time will come when [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and I will have to stand next to each other and shoot back. And you took it for a joke. But you now see how life has... MORE