Pulaski Commentaries

The first days of April bring with them bleak news. Russian forces now control the majority of the embattled city of Bakhmut.

The last days of March bring with them further changes to the frontlines of Ukraine.

The President of Russia Vladimir Putin has declared that nuclear weapons will now be deployed to Belarus

The Russian offensive in Bakhmut has slowed down, with a record low of daily combat clashes recorded this week.

Despite the Russian assault Ukrainian forces continue to hold Bakhmut. Col. General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated that the situation in and around Bakhmut remains difficult, with Russian forces attacking from several directions simultaneously.

One year into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the West is in need for a diversified strategy when discussing the conflict with its partners. Due to historical experiences, non-European and non-Western countries look at the Russian aggression differently. Supporting Ukraine thus means learning how communicate the consequences of the ongoing invasion in a language that would take into account addressees’ sensitivity. Such language is essential to assist Kyiv in winning the war and embarking on a path of successful and quick recovery.

A surprising decision to re-establish diplomatic ties between two arch-rivals - the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - could potentially alter a security landscape in the Middle East. However, significant challenges remain, and they will ultimately determine a fate of the agreement. Their deep and structural nature makes it difficult to be optimistic.

In Bakhmut Russian forces continue to press Ukrainian lines and the situation remains very difficult, despite that Ukrainian command has officially declared that the defence of the city will continue. Several western experts have doubted the importance of Bakhmut, stating that the city has little to no strategic value, while at the same time draining Ukrainian forces.

The 2023 Estonian Parliamentary Elections have come to an end. Victory was claimed by the Reform Party, under the leadership of current Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

The battle for Bakhmut seems to be entering its final stages. Over the last week the Russian forces launched a large coordinated offensive along the entire line of contact in the region.

In most important frontline news from this week, Ukrainian forces carried out a missile attack against several key Russian targets, including far behind the frontlines such as occupied Mariupol.

Putin’s speech has been an excruciatingly long ordeal, and one that started with aggressive yet somewhat reused statements. The first key point brought forward was a reaffirmation of Russian commitment to the “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine.

Putin’s speech has been an excruciatingly long ordeal, and one that started with aggressive yet somewhat reused statements. The first key point brought forward was a reaffirmation of Russian commitment to the “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine.

The legal and organisational nature of the “Special Military Operation” has always been rather unclear. Neither an outright war nor a counter terrorist operation so common in Russia, it didn’t fit into the pre-existing legal statutes of the Russian Federation.

The war in Ukraine has already proven that Russia is not a credible partner. Its defeat has the full potential of becoming one of the most profitable processes for the rules-based international order, our security, and economy since 1991. To make it happen we shall however establish a completely new and broad Russia policy, by eliminating the mistakes of the past and boldly looking forward, with CEE actors playing an active part in this process.

This week's missile strikes have seen Ukrainian air defences at a record low, failing to shoot down the majority of Russian ordnance.

Although both Sweden and Finland cannot be considered as significant military powers, their full membership in the Alliance will significantly improve NATO’s strategic position vis-à-vis Russia, particularly in its Eastern and Northern dimension.

The United Kingdom is a perfect match for Ukraine for conducting wartime advocacy. Britain needs to project its image as a country with a global impact and has a long track of understanding the Russian threat to security. Zelenskyy – with his Churchillian narrative – will not save Tories from a likely defeat in the next general elections.

In the second round of Czech’s presidential elections held on January 27-28, retired army general Petr Pavel expectedly won over ex-prime minister Andrej Babiš.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, Ukraine’s resistance has produced several stunning reversals in the fortunes of war, drastically limiting the territorial and political gains of its adversary.

Three Western NATO member states – France, the United States and Germany – promised to provide Ukraine with some heavy fighting vehicles. Although, on the one hand, this is good news – after all, a certain mental barrier is broken and a new supply channel is to be established – from a purely military perspective, this is rather a symbolic help.

The State of Qatar's decision to host the biggest and most popular sporting event in the world - the World Cup – was not driven by its love to sport and football, but purely by political calculations.

This year’s summit is described as one of the most important events of the upcoming months for the Biden administration. So where did these changes come from, and do they have a chance to bring benefits to both parties involved?

International response to the barbaric invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been impressive.

After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, Hungary has been one of the few members of the Euro-Atlantic community that took a cautious stance in regard to providing Ukraine with political and material support. Budapest’s decision not to send its own lethal weapons to Kyiv and not to allow partners to transport military aid through its own territory has been widely perceived as a breach of the Euro-Atlantic unity and has come under criticism even by the regional partners from the Visegrád Group (V4).

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is again a place of clash over the vision of the Internet as the elections to choose the next head of the organisation are approaching. After 8 years of Chinese leadership, the one of the frontrunner in the elections is a Russian candidate. Does the ITU become a centre of promoting non-western vision of the Internet and therefore will contribute to limit the free flow of information worldwide?  

Following the recent NATO summit and Western sanctions hitting Russia's fossil fuel industry, it seems that climate issue will increasingly affect the development of the armed forces of Western countries.

The NATO Madrid summit, which took place on 29th-30th June was dominated by the hard military security driven by the war in Ukraine. However, the issue of cybersecurity and disinformation was not omitted and the important steps were included both in the final declaration and the new Strategic Concept.

Finland’s bid to gain NATO membership was a direct response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, which started on February 24, 2022, has forced Japan to rethink its strategy towards Vladimir Putin’s regime. The previous administration of Shinzo Abe sought a closer cooperation with Russia and engaged with it on both economic and political level, including in the matters of security. However, the new prime minister Fumio Kishida’s clear and open stance against the Russian aggression marks a turning point in the two countries’ relations. This change of attitude is seen in the verbal criticism, extensive sanctions, but also plans to change Russia’s status in Japan’s National Security Strategy, which suggests a long-term perception shift.

A comprehensive reform of the Polish Armed Forces, announced over a year ago, has significantly accelerated since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. The Homeland Defence Act (HDA) was first announced by the government in October 2021.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) released a statement on Sunday that it has attacked "Israeli Mossad training centers" in the Iraqi Kurdistan Autonomous Region with precision-guided ballistic missiles. The IRGC said the operation was in response to the Israeli killing (also in a rocket attack) of two Iranian military advisers on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, on Monday, March 7.

On the night of 3 to 4 March this year, the Russian Federation carried out an attack on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. This has raised concerns among the public in Western countries about the safety of nuclear reactors.

After 7 days of the military campaign initiated by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the situation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is deteriorating, the Russians, despite the losses and the unsatisfactory general course of the campaign, are consistently pursuing their operational goals, i.e. encircling Kiev from the west and east.

Unleashing its war machine in Ukraine, Russia has challenged the foundations of the international security order. It must be defended, with the Western democracies leading this fight. It starts with overwhelming support for Ukraine. Second, Russian regime must be confronted and contained – in a sustained manner. Third – Western alliances need to be resolute and strengthened, including through expansion.

Russian aggression against Ukraine continues. The second day of the conflict, like the first one, began with massive missile attacks on Ukrainian military targets (e.g.  air defence systems). The land offensive continued along all operational axis.

On February 24, 2022 at around 5 am, following months of psychological pressure and hybrid operations that pick up pace in October and November 2021 (before that, a similar type of operation happened in May and April 2021), Russia has decided to launch a full scale invasion of Ukraine. This was in fact the fulfilment of the worst-case-scenario, predicted by the current US administration, to a Kremlin imposed crisis on the Russo-Ukrianian borders.

Hong Kong has drawn the world’s attention again as the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the violation of fundamental freedoms in the city on 20 January 2022.

Announcement – The final Webinar of “The V4 towards NATO Strategic Concept and Strategic Compass” grant will take place on the 9th of September at 12:00 CEST

Traditionally, NATO summits are the landmark events for the entire organisation – unlike for example in the case of the European Union, they normally take place only every few years and thus the pressure to come up with strategically oriented decisions is very strong (and usually delivered upon). What is the initial scoresheet of the summit held “in the pivotal time for our Alliance” on June 14th, 2021?

Only those, who want to practice the three wise monkeys pose (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) can continue pretending that a direct confrontation with Russia is not upon us. No exercise in wishful thinking can obscure the threat to the post-Cold War stability, brought about by Russia’s recent actions targeting Ukraine, the West and international norms in general.

Recent meetings and decisions taken by NATO and European institutions have provided more reasons for optimism for those who care about the condition of the Transatlantic community of states. The new US administration is walking the walk. It is methodically outlining its key strategies and reinvigorating alliances and partnerships. This is hugely important because there is no time to waste, as both Russia and China are openly challenging the West and its values.

Alexei Navalny returned to Russia on January 17, 2021. The oppositionist decided to take this step, despite the attempts from the Russian elite to discourage him from doing so.

The White Paper is the final part of “Energy security and effective strategic communication the civil and governmental actors: V4+Ukraine” project carried out in cooperation with International Visegrad Fund and partner organizations from V4 states and Ukraine: Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association from Slovakia, Centre for Global Studies “Strategy XXI” from Ukraine, KNO Česko, spol. s r.o. from Czech Republic, and Center for Fair Political Analysis from Hungary."

The project entitled “Energy security and effective strategic communication of civil and governmental actors: V4+Ukraine” was carried out between February 2018 and June 2019 at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, as part of the organizations “Economy & Energy” program. The project was realized with five partner organizations: the Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (Slovakia), Centre for Global Studies “Strategy XXI” (Ukraine), KNO Česko, spol. s r.o. (Czech Republic) and Center for Fair Political Analysis (Hungary). It was supported financially by the International Visegrad Fund.

The White Paper is the final part of “Energy security and effective strategic communication the civil and governmental actors: V4+Ukraine” project carried out in cooperation with International Visegrad Fund and partner organizations from V4 states and Ukraine: Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association from Slovakia, Centre for Global Studies “Strategy XXI” from Ukraine, KNO Česko, spol. s r.o. from Czech Republic, and Center for Fair Political Analysis from Hungary."

The White Paper is the final part of “Energy security and effective strategic communication the civil and governmental actors: V4+Ukraine” project carried out in cooperation with International Visegrad Fund and partner organizations from V4 states and Ukraine: Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association from Slovakia, Centre for Global Studies “Strategy XXI” from Ukraine, KNO Česko, spol. s r.o. from Czech Republic, and Center for Fair Political Analysis from Hungary.”

The White Paper is the final part of “Energy security and effective strategic communication the civil and governmental actors: V4+Ukraine” project carried out in cooperation with International Visegrad Fund and partner organizations from V4 states and Ukraine: Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association from Slovakia, Centre for Global Studies “Strategy XXI” from Ukraine, KNO Česko, spol. s r.o. from Czech Republic, and Center for Fair Political Analysis from Hungary.”

In May 2019, Poland’s Minister of National Defence announced that the Polish government had sent a letter of request to the U.S. Department of Defence regarding the procurement of 32 F-35A multirole fighters. Selection of the next generation aircraft is of great importance for any state. Currently, Poland and its Armed Forces have reached the turning point which will have an enormous impact for the entire defence system of the country; its economic and technological development, particularly in the field of aircraft and missile industry; as well as the political relations with allied nations and Poland’s security environment in the future.

On January 19th 2018, U.S Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis unveiled the U.S. National Defense Strategy.