On the eve of the first anniversary of Russia’s full-fledged war against Ukraine, US President Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv before embarking on a scheduled trip to Poland. Both visits are full of messages and symbols, but broader policy implications may not be so visible at first glance. This article will look at US foreign policy priorities during the time remaining before the US presidential elections in 2024.

This special series of IEŚ Policy Papers is the result of a collaboration between the Institute of Central Europe in Lublin, New Eastern Europe magazine and international researchers from Ukraine and Poland. Available for download.

In the current Russian war in Ukraine, history and the historical narratives underpinning the conflict are featuring front and centre. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has been very effective in his use of historical references, especially when addressing international audiences.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent fighting in that country have been accompanied by an avalanche of historical rhetoric from both sides, underlining just how important narratives about the past are for this conflict. As Joseph Nye reminds us: “Conventional wisdom has always held that the state with the largest military prevails, but in the information age it may be the state (or non-states) with the best story that wins.”

Despite being neighbours, the societies of Ukraine and Belarus know very little about each other. The Kremlin’s use of Belarusian land in its invasion of Ukraine suggests that this divide may persist into the future. However, it is clear that the two countries’ democratic populations will have great potential for cooperation in the years ahead.

The analytical group “BELARUS-UKRAINE-REGION” was established at the end of 2020 at the University of Warsaw. At that moment it was already quite clear that the Belarusian revolution of 2020 would not lead to a quick change of power in Minsk. There was also not yet much talk of a full-scale war in Ukraine, which is Belarus’s neighbour. In fact, analysts and observers who spoke about such a threat in 2021, or even early 2022, would usually add a disclaimer that in their view, the breakout of a war was a very unlikely scenario.

Five years ago, the Servant of the People party gained a mono-majority in the Verkhovna Rada. Since February 24, MPs have been engaged in parliamentary work in a full-scale war. Over the past seven months, some have been expelled from the faction, such as collaborator MP Oleksiy Kovalev, and others have taken high public office, such as Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin. What does the future hold for the Servant of the People party and can it exist without the support of President Volodymyr Zelenskyyy?

Ukraine’s current authorities face perhaps the most stressful week in office since 2019, when they came to power. There is no doubt that Russia’s possible full-scale invasion of Ukraine would be the most substantial military operation in Europe since 1945.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s trip to Washington and his meeting with US President Joe Biden will be essential not just for Ukraine, but for Europe as a whole. It may help determine the shape of an emerging Biden Doctrine and frame the approach of his administration’s foreign policy following the dramatic events in Afghanistan.

The Crimea Platform Initiative provides new hope to keep Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea on the international agenda. However, its ultimate aim of de-occupation via diplomatic means faces many serious challenges.

Interview with Dmytro Solomchuk, a Ukrainian deputy with the ruling party Servant of the People. Interviewer: Oleksandr Gnydiuk.

The low rates of immunisation against COVID-19 in Ukraine can be explained by certain errors in the organisation of the process and the chaos on the ground. However, the main problem remains a lack of vaccine supplies.

As of mid-May, Ukraine has the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in Europe – a mere 2.2 per cent of the country’s population has received the first dose of the vaccine. To compare at the time of the writing of this text, neighbouring Poland has reached 31 per cent while Hungary 49 per cent. At the current pace, Ukraine’s Healthcare Centre estimates that it will take five years to vaccinate 60 per cent of the population with at least one dose.

On February 2nd Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a presidential decree sanctioning Lviv oligarch Taras Kozak’s companies which owns three pro-Russian television channels. Unofficially, these channels are controlled by Viktor Medvedchuk, Putin’s right-hand man in Ukraine. The US election victory of Joe Biden has stiffened western and Ukrainian resolve to take on Russian President Vladimir Putin at a time when he is facing growing opposition at home.

The question of information warfare and disinformation have become hot topics since the 2014 crisis in Ukraine. Nevertheless, one should not assume that this threat was invented by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Soviet Union had practised dezinformatsiya and mokryie dela (wet affairs – assassinations) for decades.

The United States is among Ukraine’s key foreign partners and one of the main providers of substantial political, economic and military aid. Ever since Russia’s aggression in 2014, the US has been a staunch supporter, both in word and deed, of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and security, as well as the implementation of democratic reforms.