Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

As U.S. Tilts to Russia, a View from Ukraine

Cipher Brief experts find a blend of 'outrage, shock and disappointment' in Kyiv and on the frontlines

As U.S. Tilts to Russia, a View from Ukraine

POKROVSK, UKRAINE - FEBRUARY 17: A man walks his bike past the scene of a Russian missile strike on an administrative building in the suburbs of Pokrovsk, Ukraine.(Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu via Getty Images)

EXPERT INTERVIEWS – As the world digests the recent blizzard of developments involving the war in Ukraine – the Trump administration’s plans to end the conflict, its negotiations with Russia, and the sidelining for the moment of Ukraine and other European nations from the process – most of the attention has been on the White House, the recent Munich Security Conference, and now on the Saudi capital Riyadh, where American and Russian negotiators met Tuesday for the first time since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Those talks, described in positive terms by both sides, appear to herald the beginning of a new chapter in U.S.-Russia relations and a worrisome moment for the resistance in Ukraine. In the wake of these events, The Cipher Brief turned its attention to Ukraine itself, and to a delegation of Cipher Brief experts who have been in the country while these major developments have played out. 

Former CIA senior officials Ralph Goff and Glenn Corn have traveled in Ukraine over the past week – in the capital, Kyiv, in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, and at various frontlines as well – and they spoke to Cipher Brief CEO Suzanne Kelly about how the latest news has been received in the country. They described a state of deep unease and anxiety among Ukrainians they met; Goff described a “well-founded fear” of what Russian President Vladimir Putin will do in Ukraine after any deal, and Corn added that people in the country are "very concerned with the fact that Russia will probably make another play to take more territory or take their sovereignty from them in a few years.” 

Keep reading...Show less
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Related Articles

Why Iran’s Nuclear Program Cannot Be Dismantled from the Air

OPINION — As Israel launches one of the most expansive covert-kinetic operations in recent memory against Iranian nuclear infrastructure, a critical [...] More

Israel’s Bid to End the Iranian Nuclear Threat

OPINION — In the early hours of June 13, Israel launched a series of airstrikes, codenamed Operation Rising Lion, targeting Iranian nuclear [...] More

Report for Tuesday, June 17, 2025

9:15 AM America/New York Tuesday, June 17 [...] More

Women Who Weaponized Words in World War II

BOOK REVIEW: Propaganda Girls: The Secret War of the Women of the OSSBy Lisa Rogak / St. Martin’s PressReviewed by: Tammy Kupperman ThorpThe Reviewer [...] More

What’s Happening in L.A. May Not Stay in L.A.

OPINION / COLUMN -- “At this early stage of the proceedings, the Court [for the Northern District of California] must determine whether the President [...] More

South Korea’s New President

OPINION — On June 3rd South Korea turned the page and is embarked on a journey of peace and prosperity. Lee Jae-Myung handily won the presidential [...] More

Report for Monday, June 16, 2025

7:38 AM America/New_York Monday, June 16 [...] More

The Houthi Balancing Act After Israel’s Attack on Iran

OPINION — How will the Houthis respond to the devastating Israeli strikes on Iran? This moment could prove decisive for both the Iran-led axis and [...] More