Russia's Strategy Towards the War in Eastern Ukraine
Date: June 4th, 2020 at 15:00 CEST / 09:00 EST Platform: MS Teams Live Events
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Format
The panelist presented for 30 minutes followed by 30 minutes of Q&A.
Agenda
1500-1530 CEST / 0900-0930 EST
Russia's Strategy Towards the War in Eastern Ukraine Russia’s objective is to impose limits on the sovereignty of Ukraine, which it regards as the center of its claimed sphere of influence.
Key points:
- Russia seeks to force its interpretation of the February 2015 Minsk Agreement on Kyiv, requiring the devolution of power to Russia’s puppet regimes in East Ukraine.
- This strategy aims to weaken the central Ukrainian state and prevent Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration.
- Russia’s use of military force, combined with other forms of pressure, is designed to coerce Kyiv into compliance and intimidate Western capitals into pressuring Ukraine to capitulate.
- The clash between Ukraine’s determination to defend its sovereignty and Russia’s great power ambitions is likely to persist for many years.
1530-1600 CEST / 0930-1000 EST
Question and Answer Session
Presenter
Duncan Allan
Title: Associate Fellow Affiliation: Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House
Duncan Allan specializes in Russian foreign and domestic policy and Ukraine. He spent over 28 years in the UK Foreign Office’s Research Analysts cadre, focusing on the countries of the former Soviet Union, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova.
Allan has worked on domestic politics, economics, energy, foreign policy, and region-wide themes such as governance trends and regional integration. He completed several full tours and temporary duty assignments at the British embassies in Moscow and Kyiv. Since leaving the diplomatic service in 2017, he has established Octant Research & Analysis Ltd, offering assessments of political, economic, and reputational risk in the post-Soviet space.