Key Takeaway: Recent Russian maneuvering in Ukraine poses a growing risk to U.S. interests as Vladimir Putin presses to capitalize on his intervention. Russia may have assessed that it does not require a full-fledged separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine anymore, as it sees a political opportunity to force Kyiv into accepting and legitimizing the occupied territories of Donbas on Russia’s terms. Putin continues setting conditions to advance his political objective of creating a pliable, pro-Russian, anti-Western Ukraine, and to shape how the West should respond to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. The U.S. must recognize Putin’s game and seize the initiative, including by boosting support for a sovereign Ukraine, rather than let the Kremlin transform the region toward its own destabilizing ends.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Nataliya Bugayova, Franklin Holcomb: Russia preparing to ‘cash in’ its military gains in Ukraine
Local residents examine their flat that has been destroyed as a result of night shelling by pro-Russian separatists to the flashpoint eastern city of Avdiyivka, north of the pro-Russian rebels' de facto capital of Donetsk, on Feb. 3, 2017.
