Category: NATO Partnerships

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was never about NATO

Sweden is poised to become the thirty-second member of the NATO Alliance and Russia does not appear to be at all concerned by the prospect. The breakthrough moment for the Swedes came ahead of last week’s NATO summit in Vilnius, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to end months of opposition and back the

Disappointed but not discouraged: Ukrainians react to NATO summit

The annual NATO summit in Vilnius this week failed to produce the kind of breakthrough toward membership of the alliance that many Ukrainians were hoping for. However, it did offer up ample evidence of continued strong international support for Ukraine in the fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion. Despite widespread recognition that Ukraine’s future must be

NATO summit leaves Ukrainians frustrated

As Ukrainians digested the outcome of the NATO summit on July 11, the mood across the country was one of frustration. While the annual gathering of NATO leaders in Vilnius brought a number of tangible gains for Ukraine including confirmation of new weapons deliveries and the creation of a coalition to train Ukrainian pilots to

Ukraine’s counteroffensive is a marathon not a blitzkrieg

Less than two weeks since he first confirmed that Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive was finally underway, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy already finds himself forced to hit back at criticism over the pace of military operations. “Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It’s not,” he told the BBC on June 21.

Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive will aim to keep the Russians guessing

Is Ukraine’s hotly anticipated counteroffensive finally underway? That is the question dominating much of the international media this week following reports from both the Ukrainian and Russian sides of a significant upswing in activity along the front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine. This speculation is understandable; after all, expectations have been mounting since early

Dispatch from Kyiv: Ukraine deserves NATO membership and even more robust weapons

The air raid siren sounded at 3:00 a.m. on Thursday morning, several hours after the Atlantic Council’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his well-fortified offices, sounding the arrival of ten Russian Iskander ballistic missiles in Kyiv airspace. Each of them—more than twenty feet long and weighing in at more than four tons—served as a further reminder that

Ukrainians are inspired by Finland’s heroic past and NATO present

It isn’t easy to remain optimistic when a malevolent superpower has sent its armies to destroy your country. But thanks in no small part to Finland, Ukraine is welcoming the spring season with renewed hope and determination. Here in Kyiv, we regard Finland’s recent accession to full NATO membership as a milestone for broader European