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UPDATED: What Brookings Scholars Are Saying about Ukraine

Fred Dews
Fred Dews Managing Editor, New Digital Products - Office of Communications

February 24, 2014

  • 2 min read

MORE UPDATES:

Russia cares more about losing Ukraine than Europe cares about gaining it – Steven Pifer, The Moscow Times

Find out how Ukraine fits into Steve Pifer and Fiona Hill’s “Black Swan” scenario, “Putin’s Russia Goes Rogue.”

UPDATES: 
• Steven Pifer appeared on WSJ Live to discuss signs of Ukraine peace.
• Pifer wrote on CNN.com
• Pifer appeared on WBUR’s “On Point with Tom Ashbrook” on Thursday.
• Fiona Hill talked on Fox News about Russia and the West struggling for influence in Ukraine.
• Pifer wrote about the geopolitical fight between Russia and the West in Ukraine. 

(February 19) Riot police moved against protesters in the streets of Kyiv as violence escalates in Ukraine. Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, writes that despite the existence of an “atmosphere for a possible political dialogue between President Yanukovych and the opposition to seek a peaceful settlement … everything came undone on February 18. The images from Independence Square, he says, “show a war zone.”

Western influence can only help resolve the crisis in Ukraine. Sanctions offer no magic bullet. The main responsibility for finding a solution rests with Ukrainians, first and foremost Yanukovych. But if the West does not put its leverage in play now, the situation may quickly deteriorate to the point where the West has no ability to affect the crisis. (read the full piece here.)

On Bloomberg TV this morning, Pifer said that the crackdown is going to cause a public backlash against the government and make “nearly impossible any kind of a dialogue that might help Ukraine get out of this crisis.” He said that while the responsibility for what is happening lies with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Russian President Vladimir Putin “is probably pleased with what is going on in Kyiv.” Watch:

Pifer appeared on PBS NewsHour last night to discuss the situation. Watch below:

Here is what Pifer and others are tweeting about it:

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