Join the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) for a panel discussion on the growing impediments to humanitarian access in Eastern Ukraine along the “Line of Contact.” Five years after the illegal annexation of Crimea and the Russian military incursion in the Donbas, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine has fallen off the Washington policy radar screen despite the fact that the number of ceasefire violations and impediments to humanitarian access have dramatically increased. With a new Ukrainian president and newly-elected Rada (the Ukrainian parliament), now is the time to raise the profile of this important issue in Washington to improve humanitarian access to those in greatest need. The panel will focus on current challenges, on factors that have deteriorated the conditions on the ground since the beginning of 2019 and new diplomatic and assistance opportunities that could minimize access impediments. Registration is required.

Speakers:

Alexander Hug, former deputy chief monitor, Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, OSCE

Melinda Haring, editor, UkraineAlert, Atlantic Council

Margot Ellis, senior deputy assistant administrator, Europe and Eurasia, USAID

Heather A. Conley (moderator), senior vice president for Europe, Eurasia and the Arctic; director, Europe Program, CSIS