Ukraine has no good options if Russia refuses to accept anything less than its own peace terms, and there are challenges to making neutrality a viable option to end the war.
Ukraine
Ukraine: the complex calculations that will decide whether Belarus enters the conflict on Russia’s side
Differentiating between Belarus and Russia and carefully calibrating policies towards both countries should be among the priorities for western policy makers.
Could China be a partner for the West in managing the Ukraine crisis?
For the sake of Ukraine, the opportunity, however slim, to cooperate with China on stopping Russia’s aggression should not be discarded out of hand.
Putin forges ahead with Novorossiya
As the situation in eastern Ukraine stabilises and the country hopefully muddles through the winter, Western attention will soon enough turn to other crises around the world where co-operation with Russia is essential. That much we have seen before: who, after all, remembers Crimea?
Inside Donetsk–a city at war
With the battle lines drawn locally and internationally, neither a political nor a military solution to Ukraine’s crisis are likely anytime soon.
The Self-styled people’s governor of Donetsk
A blend of Soviet-style egalitarianism mixed with cultural mythology and the geographic historical precedent of Novorossiya may appeal to those who voted yes in the May referendum and it is also an attractive geopolitical concept from Moscow’s perspective.
Lack of trust and tit-for-tat escalation
Every additional weapon that crosses from Russia into Ukraine; every rebel, soldier and civilian killed; and every new sanction imposed take us one step further away from establishing trust.
Could the MH17 tragedy be a wake-up call?
The debate and vote in the Security Council n the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over rebel-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine have the feel of yet another first step in the right direction. However, it is sadly not clear that any meaningful second steps will follow.
Poroshenko wins Ukraine presidency
With the outright victory of Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine’s presidential elections on May 25 now confirmed, hopes are running high for a new beginning that will deliver a swift way out of a protracted crisis.