Carnegie Moscow Center
The presence of Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland in Kyiv raises important questions about the U.S. role in the crisis in Ukraine.
Angela Merkel has taken a first step toward a geopolitical competition with Russia over Eastern Europe, effectively ending years of cozy bilateral relations with Moscow.
As the focus is all on Putin's effort to reshape his neighborhood this week, a Kazakh and a Belarusian silence is an awkward reminder that the Eurasian Union was supposed to be a collaborative project and that the more Putin grabs the headlines, the less that is the case.
The choice between Europe and Russia is Ukraine’s. The battle in Ukraine should not be allowed to become a battle for Ukraine between the EU, Russia, and the United States.
Regarding finances, the Russian government has used three methods to keep the Ukrainians from signing the Association Agreement with the EU: bullying, bribery, and defending Russian national interests.
The current Ukrainian awakening is a test for Europe and its ability to reenergize itself and acquire a mission to help find Ukraine a peaceful way out of the confrontation.
Ukraine’s future will offer answers not only to the question of whether or not Russia will continue to see itself as an empire, but also to the question of how committed Europe is to the values it espouses and how far the West is prepared to expand its influence.
Georgia has been ready for any and every subsequent step that paves the way toward anchorage with the project of European Integration.
In the run-up to the Vilnius summit, the EU could have played its hand better and could have gone the extra mile with Moscow to demonstrate to Russia and the world its good intentions.
The Vilnius summit may be successful only if Europe analyzes the Ukrainian lesson and the EU’s own strategic faults, and if it decides to reinvent its current Eastern Partnership model.