The foreign affairs ministers of Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine conferred on July 2 in Berlin, in a format designed to subject the Ukrainian side to pressure from the other three parties. The Ukrainian side has made far-reaching concessions in this meeting. Those terms are... MORE

On July 1 in the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin addressed the annual conference of Russia’s ambassadors accredited to foreign countries and international organizations, top foreign affairs ministry officials, leaders of both chambers of parliament, government ministers and agency chiefs, representatives of think-tanks and Russian business... MORE

When Western observers look at events in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other non-Western societies, more often than not they emphasize the actions of the politicians shaping those societies, not the societies generating a demand for a particular type of politician. Is Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s longevity at... MORE

Ukraine’s intelligence service has identified five centers within the Russian Federation where Moscow is recruiting and training mercenaries and diversionists to work against Ukraine in the eastern portions of that country and perhaps further west as well (Newsru.ua, June 28). Even more worrisome, according to... MORE

Ukraine has extricated itself from the trap of a unilateral ceasefire exploited by the Russian side. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had declared a seven-day ceasefire on June 20, and prolonged it again unilaterally from June 27 through June 30. Secessionist leaders announced a parallel ceasefire... MORE

While the dominant narrative in the West is that President Vladimir Putin is personally responsible for the crisis in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas and seeks to use it to Russia’s advantage, such a Manichean view disguises the nuances and complexities surrounding the issue.  One... MORE

The big picture of the Ukrainian conflict has changed significantly during the last week as this troubled state confirmed its hard-made European choice. The hundreds of rebels fighting in the trenches around Slavyansk and the hundreds of thousands of civilians, who are trying to make... MORE

On May 28, the Ukrainian military reportedly shot down a drone (unmanned aerial vehicle—UAV) that was taking images of a Ukrainian military base engaged in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in Donetsk (Dzerkalo Tyzhnia May 28). The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) identified the drone as... MORE

Since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, it has been clear that a conflict between Moscow and the Crimean Tatars was only a matter of time. Arguably, the Crimean Tatars, with an estimated population of only 250,000 (Ukrainian Census, 2001), cannot play an important role in... MORE

Ukraine’s unilateral ceasefire, announced by President Petro Poroshenko on June 20, expires today (June 27). Russia and its proxy forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (Donbas) have actively undermined the ceasefire, politically as well as militarily. The Russian side has undoubtedly sensed weakness in... MORE