Engaging Ukraine

As the global economic crisis deepens, few countries have been hit as hard as Ukraine. Complicating the country’s plight has been a long-running bout of political turmoil, and with the approach of presidential elections later this year, the partisan battles are intensifying, pitting an unpopular president against his own prime minister. Abroad, Ukraine faces a more assertive Russia, and western European neighbors doubt Ukraine’s ability to follow a European course. How should the United States, which has devoted considerable time, energy and resources to promoting Ukraine’s transformation during the past 17 years, now engage with Kyiv?

On March 17, the Center on the United States and Europe (CUSE) hosted experts Steven Pifer, Anders Aslund and Jonathan Elkind for a discussion of their new Brookings policy paper, Engaging Ukraine in 2009. They also discussed the challenges facing Ukraine and offered recommendations to the Obama administration.

Brookings Senior Fellow Daniel Benjamin, director of CUSE, provided introductory remarks and moderated the discussion. After the program, panelists took audience questions.