In doing so, Russia is reinforcing its maximalist demands rather than preparing for a settlement.
🔗 Read the full commentary: epik.eu/publication/...
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialEuropean Policy Institute in Kyiv (EPIK)
@epik-ukraine.bsky.social
Bringing Ukrainian and European expertise together to advance policy debates on European security, geopolitics, and Ukraine’s EU accession.
@epik-ukraine.bsky.social@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialWhat does Russia's sham voting in occupied Ukraine reveal about its plans? In a new commentary for EPIK, Maria Kucherenko argues that the vote should be seen as an attempt to formalise the annexation Moscow wrote into its Constitution in 2022.
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialIn a new EPIK commentary, Ivan Nagornyak gives a first read from Kyiv: what works in Ukraine's favour, where the hard questions lie, and which major issue the Commission left out.
Read the full piece 👇
epik.eu/publication/...
@epik-ukraine.bsky.social🇪🇺 Ukraine's accession talks usually focus on Kyiv's homework. But what about the EU's? On 6 October, the Commission published "Preparing for a wider Union", an audit of more than thirty EU policies through the lens of enlargement.
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialAlexander's answer is to bring tangible benefits of integration forward and tie each further step to demonstrated reform.
Read the full policy brief: epik.eu/publication/...
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialTwo decades ago, EU enlargement worked: meet the criteria, get in. Today, it's stuck. In a new policy brief, @asicheneder.bsky.social argues that the old model of "reform everything, then join" can no longer deliver both geopolitical urgency and merit-based discipline.
@epik-ukraine.bsky.social📃 This policy brief is part of EPIK's #NuclearSecurity series, examining the strategic, political, and doctrinal dimensions of nuclear risk in the Russo-Ukrainian war and beyond.
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialIn a new piece for EPIK, nuclear historian Mariana Budjeryn takes a fresh look at the Budapest Memorandum three decades after it was signed.
🔗 Read the full policy brief: epik.eu/publication/...
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialIn 1991, Ukraine inherited the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal from the collapsed Soviet Union. By 1996, that arsenal was gone. In exchange, Ukraine received not security guarantees, but "assurances" from the US, UK, and Russia — a distinction that would prove consequential.
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialIn a new policy brief, @umland.eurosky.social examines this overlooked crisis and what the international community can do about it.
Read the full piece 👇
epik.eu/publication/...
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialAround 16,000 Ukrainian civilians remain detained in Russia and the occupied territories — with no established mechanism for securing their release, unlike Ukrainian POWs.
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialA new EPIK commentary by Iryna Borovets walks through what moved, what stalled, and what's still missing before the toughest winter yet.
Read the full piece 👇
epik.eu/publication/...
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialAs the UN General Assembly wraps up, what does the Ukrainian delegation bring home? From the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting to Europe's winter air-defence push, EU financing, and the fight to unblock Black Sea ports.
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialRead the full policy brief 👇
epik.eu/publication/...
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialSome practical steps: 🔹 A lean Verkhovna Rada office in Brussels 🔹 A political pilot starting with two serving MPs expanding to six as all accession clusters open 🔹 "Rule 13a" formalising the participation of candidate-country parliaments before signing an Accession Treaty
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialEPIK launches a new series exploring ways to integrate Ukraine into EU institutions before an Accession Treaty is signed.
🤝 In the first policy brief, Ivan Nagornyak looks at opportunities to deepen the relationship between
@europarl.europa.eu and the Verkhovna Rada.
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialRead the full policy brief 👇
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialAs Ukraine's deep strikes hit Russia's economy and military rear, how will Moscow retaliate?
In a new policy brief published in cooperation with SCEEUS, Lesia Bidochko and @umland.eurosky.social map out Russia's full "escalation menu" — conventional, nuclear, and hybrid.
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialEPIK's Lesia Bidochko explains how Moscow's 18–20 September Duma "vote" works, and why it matters for the future of negotiations over Ukraine's territory.
Read the commentary 👇
epik.eu/publication/...
@epik-ukraine.bsky.socialIn occupied Ukraine, Russia has fabricated the jurisdiction, the constituency, and the electorate before fabricating a single vote.
