Latest on Russia’s war on Ukraine [What Think Tanks are thinking]

As Ukraine continues its counter-offensive against the Russian invaders, the NATO summit in Vilnius vowed unwavering support for the country, and took decisions to simplify its path towards membership of the Western military alliance. NATO leaders said they would be able to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance once the country meets certain conditions. They declared continued support for Ukraine’s deterrence and defence in the short, medium, and long term, as well as for turning the Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) into a multi-year programme for Ukraine. This assistance will help rebuild the Ukrainian security and defence sector and move Ukraine towards full interoperability with NATO. The NATO summit declarations fell short of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s expectations for receiving a clearer path to enter the Alliance. However, he praised NATO’s decision to scrap the need for Kyiv to complete a preparatory Membership Action Plan to join NATO. The Alliance and Ukraine also held the inaugural meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council to manage the relationship, which reaffirmed that 'Ukraine's future is in NATO'. On the summit's side-lines, Group of Seven (G7) developed countries unveiled an international framework to boost Ukraine's long-term security against Russia. A number of other military packages were announced at bilateral meetings between Zelenskyy and individual NATO leaders. This note gathers links to the recent publications and commentaries from many international think tanks on Russia’s war on Ukraine. Earlier analyses on the war can be found in a previous edition of ‘What Think Tanks are Thinking’. Publications on NATO released ahead of its July summit can be found in another item in the series.