Western media reports are increasingly claiming that the Orange Revolution is floundering in Ukraine. The Independent (July 25) asserted, "There is a growing consensus in Ukraine that Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko have frittered away much of their political capital." The International Herald and Tribune... MORE

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko sent an open letter to Ukrayinska pravda yesterday (July 26) following his public broadside against the publication at a press conference one day earlier. Yushchenko has accused Ukrayinska pravda of deliberately trying to discredit his son, Andriy, and his presidency. Yushchenko... MORE

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary, Petro Poroshenko, and Naftohaz Ukrainy chairman Oleksiy Ivchenko paid little-noted visits to Iran on July 14 and July 24-25, respectively. The visits in quick succession evidenced Kyiv's sense of urgency about reducing its dependence on Russian energy supplies,... MORE

On July 22, at President Vladimir Voronin's initiative, the Moldovan parliament adopted an Organic Law on the principles of resolving the separatist conflict in Transnistria. The law completely reverses the logic of a 13-year old, futile negotiating process, with which Moldova had until recently gone... MORE

The uncrowned king of the Donbas, Renat Akhmetov, may be in serious trouble. Though Akhmetov has not been formally charged with any crime yet, Kyiv investigators do not conceal that they want to see him behind bars for an attempted murder in the 1980s. Akhmetov... MORE

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko has used the past week, with parliament closed for summer recess, to assert his authority in key state institutions. Yet these latest moves have failed to dispel the growing opinion that Yushchenko is not making use of the extensive powers he... MORE

Despite hopes to the contrary, the election of a new president of Ukraine has not sped the investigation into the murder of opposition journalist Heorhiy Gongadze. At the Davos World Economic Summit in January, President Viktor Yushchenko promised that the Gongadze case would be submitted... MORE

"I am the president of all Ukrainians, those who voted for me and those who didn't, those who understand me and those who don't," President Viktor Yushchenko said upon his July 15 arrival in the eastern city of Donetsk, which remains largely hostile towards him.... MORE

Ukraine appears to have found a short-term solution to the problem of gas supplies from Russia for the remainder of 2005. However, the issue of supplies beyond December 31 -- that is, during the peak heating season, in the run-up to the March parliamentary elections... MORE

When Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka bid farewell to the outgoing Russian ambassador, Alexander Blokhin, on July 5, he remarked that the past few years have been an especially fruitful time for bilateral relations, and particularly the most recent year. His comments raise the question how... MORE