In order to understand today’s tensions between Russia and Ukraine, we have to start at the beginning. This week, host Elisa is joined by Russia-Eurasia expert, Professor Angela Stent, to unpack the tangled history between these two nations, and the resulting conflict that has dominated the world stage. How have the last two decades, and the rise of Vladimir Putin, altered the Russian-Ukrainian relationship? What is Ukraine's history with international partnerships and treaties? And why are Crimea and other assets along the Black Sea of such interest to Putin right now?

Professor Angela Stent is Director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian & East European Studies at Georgetown University, and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution:

https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014RWsfAAG/angela-stent

References:

Angela Stent, “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest” Twelve, 2019:

https://www.twelvebooks.com/titles/angela-stent/putins-world/9781455533015/

Angela Stent, “The Limits of Partnership: U.S.-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century” Princeton University Press, 2015:

https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691165868/the-limits-of-partnership

The 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances:

https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%203007/Part/volume-3007-I-52241.pdf