Not everybody is fortunate enough to get a second chance. However, during the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 11-12 July, NATO will have another chance to correct the monumental geopolitical blunder it committed 15 years ago at the 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest, Romania. During the NATO Summit
This month’s NATO summit takes place at a time of both peril and opportunity for the future of European security. The Wagner Group’s June 24 sprint from Rostov to the gates of Moscow dealt a fresh blow to criticism of NATO’s decision to extend a Membership Action
Ukraine's Western allies remain divided on "nearly every element" regarding security guarantees for Ukraine, Politico wrote on June 8, citing unnamed European diplomats.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg held a joint press conference in Kyiv on April 20, with Zelensky saying there was "no objective barrier" to prevent Ukraine from joining the military alliance.
BRUSSELS – Behind the curtains of Estonia's substantial support for Ukraine lies the struggle of pushing allies to do more. In an exclusive interview with the Kyiv Independent, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu admitted that he is not satisfied with either the quantity or pace of the allies' arms support "because
Brussels – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg vowed on April 3 that the alliance would continue supporting Ukraine despite Russia's "dangerous and reckless nuclear rhetoric." He added that Kyiv can win the war and become a full-fledged NATO member one day. Responding to the Kyiv Independent at a news conference, Stoltenberg
Estonia, a country of 1.4 million people bordering Russia, is one of the most vocal supporters of Ukraine. It's also one of the West's front line states facing an increasingly aggressive Russia. Before Russia launched its all-out war, Estonia was among the handful of countries that provided Ukraine with
Key developments on Feb. 17: * NATO, EU, Ukraine to hold first trilateral meeting on Feb. 21 * Nuland: US supports Ukraine striking targets in Russian-occupied Crimea * Minister: Russian sabotage of Kakhovka Reservoir may leave 1 million Ukrainians without water In his address to the attendees of the Munich Security Conference, President
Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. BRUSSELS — Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s defense minister, was in an excellent mood after several intense days of closed-door meetings at the NATO headquarters. The Alliance hosted a meeting of defense ministers of all 30 member nations on Oct.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. He added NATO would never recognize the annexation of Ukrainian territory. "If Russia stops fighting, there will be no war. If Ukraine stops fighting – Ukraine will cease to exist as an independent state," he added.
In a video address on Sept. 30, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine has applied for NATO membership. The country, according to him, should count on the NATO fast-track accession. "De facto, we have already become a NATO ally," Zelensky said. "(Our accession) would be a formal solidifying of the real state of things we've already achieved."
“Artillery sweat saves infantry blood.” The Ukrainian military has this saying for a reason. It has been weeks since Ukraine began to ask desperately for heavy western weaponry, particularly advanced tubed and rocket artillery, as part of an effort to turn the tide of Russia’s invasion, which is not
The Russian-Ukrainian war has produced yet another hallmark event in the history of warfare. On April 14, after 49 days of Russia’s all-out war, Ukraine inflicted a devastating blow upon the Kremlin’s pride and the symbol of its naval power in the Black Sea. Missile cruiser Moskva, the
HOSTOMEL, Kyiv Oblast — Like so many pilots across the world, Dmytro Antonov, the crew commander of the Antonov An-225 Mriya aircraft, has his own little pre-flight rituals. The world’s biggest and strongest cargo airplane, the master of many flight records, Mriya required special reverence. It had its own spirit
Images of dead civilians lying on the streets of Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, with their hands tied behind their backs shocked the international community and shamed Putin’s apologists, including all those who had felt sympathy for the “young demoralized Russian soldiers” – as these atrocities were committed by Russian
Ukraine is seeking security guarantees that are stronger than NATO's Article 5, David Arakhamia, the leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky's faction in the parliament and head of the Ukrainian delegation during the ongoing peace negotiations with Russia, said on March 29. Arakhamia was speaking following a round of peace talks
A large demonstration took place in Brussels on March 24, with protesters gathering to demand tougher sanctions against Russia on the occasion of U.S President Joe Biden’s visit to Brussels for a summit on Ukraine. The event, organized by Ukrainian-led advocacy group Promote Ukraine, took place in front
Days after launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin ordered to put his country's nuclear deterrent forces on alert, effectively threatening the world with a nuclear war. With the ongoing military invasion proving to be extremely costly for Russia, the key question now is whether Putin is
No one really expected it — but after three weeks of Russia’s all-out war, Ukraine’s air defense is still exceeding expectations. This branch of service not only managed to largely survive Russia’s massive missile attacks in the invasion’s early hours. It took up the fight and prevented
On 14-16 September 2005, over 170 heads of state and government met at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during the 2005 World Summit, later described as the “largest gathering of world leaders in history,” and adopted the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document. The UN website states: “In paragraphs
To all our friends in the West: We know that you want to postpone a possible direct engagement, a direct war with the Russians… I’d like to be wrong, but I think it’s quite obvious that the direction we are heading in… is a direct war and direct
It’s infuriating that Russia’s serial killer, autocrat Vladimir Putin, is telling Western powers what they should be doing. What is worst, they are listening. The war-crime nominee has launched an incomprehensible war on global democracies by attacking Ukraine for no reason other than he thinks that he can
Many struggle to understand world powers’ refusal to enforce a no-fly zone (NFZ), at least on the western rest of Ukraine not (yet) occupied by Russia. It has been repeatedly requested by its legitimate democratically elected President Volodymyr Zelensky for the whole of this sovereign independent and democratic country, itself
Ukrainian bankers, analysts and economists have joined forces to develop a list of sanctions that have not yet been introduced, but could substantially hit Russia and force Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to retreat. Of course, these measures could hurt not only Russians, but also the economies of the collective West.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors. The Kyiv Independent is reposting it with permission. Against all the odds, Ukraine has won this war militarily. It has won because it has fought bravely and skillfully and now there is nothing Russia can
As NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs prepare for their extraordinary meeting on 4 March 2022 in Brussels, they will need to address the following existential question raised by former President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė in her 2 March 2022 letter to NATO: “If we do not stop Putin in Ukraine,
Russia’s treacherous attack on Ukraine shocked the entire civilized world. The planned Blitzkrieg that failed led to the collapse of Russian troops and their transition to terrorist methods of warfare, in violation of the laws and customs of war. On the first day of the occupation, it became known
Ukrainian people are dying, and civil infrastructure is destroyed from increasing Russian air-to-ground attacks. And there is no other help from the United Nations member states needed more than closure of airspace from any unapproved military aircraft flying into Ukrainian airspace. According to the article 42 of the UN Charter,
The heroic feats of Ukraine are a balm for our heart and soul. It’s been a long time since anything like its national resistance to Russia’s war has nurtured the spirit. Humanity loves heroes. The Ukrainian people, its military and president have shown it in spades. Respect, love
On 24 February 2022, in violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, Russia unleashed a full-scale military assault on Ukraine by air, ground and sea, attacking airports, ports, urban areas, civilian infrastructure and the nuclear exclusion zone in Chernobyl. On the same day, the President of Ukraine called for the
With Russia’s ruthless and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in the early morning hours of 24 February 2022, Vladimir Putin has brazenly challenged the West. Ukraine is courageously holding the fort at a high cost of human lives, both military and civilian, as well as an inestimable destruction of property.
On Sunday, police brutally dispersed a group of demonstrators who came to Moscow’s Pushkin Square, the traditional site of dissident rallies since the Soviet era, to denounce Vladimir Putin’s presumptive attack on Ukraine. The protesters, who included veteran human rights leader and former member of parliament Lev Ponomarev,
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