With its massive military buildup at the border to Ukraine, Russia is challenging international law, the inviolability of borders, and, more generally, the post-Cold War Euro-Atlantic security order. The issue is broader than the sovereignty of Ukraine or Ukraine’s dealings with NATO. Moscow’s proposals for new treaties between Russia and the West contradict the basic principles of behavior on which peace in the Euro-Atlantic area is built. Stakes are high. Europe has not been closer to a large-scale military conflict on the continent since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
So far, the common Western response to the crisis has been to pursue a double strategy of deterrence and dialogue. Talks within different formats have been revived. Severe economic sanctions have been prepared in case Russia crosses lines, and some allies are delivering military assistance to Ukraine. The West is ready to discuss arms control, confidence building measures, and risk reduction mechanisms but not the sovereignty of independent nations nor mechanisms that contradict the basic tenets of the existing Euro-Atlantic security order.
With our distinguished guests, we will discuss various perspectives on the conflict. How can we maintain transatlantic unity and cohesion vis-à-vis the Russian threat? What are the right measures and signals to achieve a peaceful outcome? Is public messaging in line with policy preparations?
Speakers:
Pierre Vimont, Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe; Former Ambassador of France to the United States; Former Executive Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS)
Matthias Lüttenberg, Director for Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia in Germany’s Federal Foreign Office
Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy Program at Brookings
Michael Siebert (tbc), Managing Director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, Regional Cooperation, and OSCE at the European External Action Service (EEAS)
Chair: Stefan Meister, Head of the Program on International Order and Democracy at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
Please note that this event will be recorded.
Participants will be able to ask questions via Zoom’s Q&A function. You will find information related to data processing on the Zoom platform at https://dgap.org/en/zoom.
Please register via events@dgap.org.