Given the disconnect between Russia and the US and its NATO allies, it is puzzling why the talks happened at all, and what might possibly be gained from them.
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.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991, Russia formed a bloc with Ukraine and Belarus. The region is now at the centre of escalating tensions between Russia and the west.
The Biden administration has threatened severe sanctions if Russia were to invade Ukraine. An economic sanctions scholar explains why they probably won’t be effective.
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.
Sophie Marineau, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)
By waiving sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline linking Russia and Germany, the United States is paving the way for the controversial project to go ahead.
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.
Can the arrival of a new administration in Washington and the demonstrations in Moscow demanding the release of Alexei Navalny destabilize the strongman of Moscow?
Russia may not be a foreign policy priority for the incoming Biden administration. But its promise to foreground democracy will put the Kremlin on edge.