In a luncheon hosted by the Atlantic Council at the offices of Chadbourne & Parke LLP in New York, President Viktor Yushchenko spoke about the challenges facing Ukraine in the wake of the Georgian crisis. Along with fellow dignitaries and guests, Mr. Yushchenko also spoke about Ukrainian-Russian relations and the domestic political situation facing Ukraine.

In a video teleconference hosted by the Atlantic Council and the Security and Defense Agenda in Brussels, panelists agreed that European and US security threat assessments have increasingly converged over the last few years, marking a positive turn for NATO cooperation.

Is French President Nicolas Sarkozy negotiating with Don Corleone?

Sarkozy, leading the European Union effort to secure a Russian withdrawal from Georgia, has returned from Moscow with another agreement. This time, Russian troops are to withdraw from the so-called “buffer zone” after the placement of 200 EU monitors in the regions outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Those predicting that the Russian incursion into Georgia will rejuvenate transatlantic solidarity might be overly optimistic.

The Atlantic Council hosted a teleconference today discussing the present business environment in Russia as well as the outlook for its future stability featuring Michael Calvey, co-managing partner of Baring Vostok Capital Partners, and Charles Ryan, chairman of Deutsche Bank. 

An all star panel of Georgian and American diplomatic thinkers agreed that resolving the conflict between Russia and Georgia is ultimately not about the fate of tiny Georgia but rather whether the West will demand adherence to its basic values: International borders are sacrosanct, especially in Europe; countries have a right to choose their own leaders; and any European democracy who meets NATO’s standards should be allowed to join the Alliance. 

At the release of the Atlantic Council’s latest report “Restoring Georgia’s Sovereignty in Abkhazia,” David L. Phillips, the report’s author and a senior fellow of the Council, made clear that “the status quo in Abkhazia is dangerous and extremely volatile.” According to Phillips, “the issue of Abkhazia should be of first-order significance” for the transatlantic community because what happens in Georgia has implications for Western security interests and relations with Russia.

 This report recommends a package of immediate measures to the Georgian and Abkhaz sides to prevent the escalation of violence. As part of a multi-year strategy, it also suggests steps that Georgians, Abkhaz, and international stakeholders can take to lay the ground for future negotiations. In addition, the report proposes a diplomatic initiative by the United States and the European Union (EU) that would restore Georgia’s sovereignty, while preserving the interests of Abkhaz.

Europe’s top banker says that while Central Europe "delivered reasonably well" on the great expectations the world had in the wake of the Cold War, "the job is not done" in the rest of the region, notably Russia, Ukraine, and the Balkans.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan highlighted his country’s central role in international diplomacy ranging from Europe to the Middle East to North Africa to Central Asia. Turkey has become the essential player by maintaining open dialogs and building trust.Along the way, they have shown that “Islam and modernity are not conflicting interests.”