President Joe Biden is deploying 3,000 troops to support NATO in Eastern Europe. By doing so, Biden enters both a regional conflict and tangled legal territory.
One of Putin’s demands for de-escalating conflict with Ukraine is NATO blocking Ukrainian membership. Understanding what NATO is, and why Ukraine wants to join, clarifies why Putin wants this.
Ukraine was once known as the breadbasket of Europe, yet it suffered a devastating famine as a result of collectivist plans. That and other Soviet-era grievances have bred resentment toward Russia.
Pro-democracy uprisings in Slavic states were unsuccessful, but there’s festering discontent in the region. Russia attributes it to western interference, and intends to reverse the trend in Ukraine.
It is worthwhile trying to see current Ukraine-Russia tensions from a Russian perspective. Moscow has hardly gone out of its way to look for compromise and good will, but neither has Kyiv.
Russia appears inching closer to invading Ukraine, despite warnings from the US and other Western powers. Here are a few key ideas to help better understand what led to this looming crisis.
The Russian government, under President Vladimir Putin, has stepped up repression at home and aggression abroad in an effort to consolidate power within the country and on the world stage.
Negotiations between Western democracies and Russia over the fate of Ukraine took place against a backdrop of Russia troops entering Kazakhstan. It’s a reminder that Russia is willing to play tough.
As Ukraine wrestles with the latest threat from its larger neighbor, two scholars explain how the independent country is often viewed as part of a greater Russia – and why that inflames tensions.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to seek commitments from his US counterpart, pledging support in his country’s ongoing battle with the Russian Federation.
Nord Stream 2 is a pipeline that will deliver Russian gas to Western Europe – and, by extension, increase Putin’s influence across the continent. That makes Ukraine and some other countries nervous.
Associate Professor of Instruction in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, Affiliate Professor at the Institute for Russian, European, and Eurasian Studies, University of South Florida