The Russian aggression has drastically reshaped Ukraine’s neighbourhoods. The war ruptured Ukraine’s ties with Belarus, but brought about much closer cooperation to its west and south.
Yet Ukraine’s relations with its Central European and Black Sea partners are far from straightforward today. Path dependencies and diverging interests impede the further upgrading of bilateral ties.
Specifically, Ukraine’s neighbourhood policy suffers from a neglect of the regional context, strategic miscommunications, and impaired foreign policy decision-making. The proliferation of initiatives and declarations often outweighs their realisation in practice.
Kyiv should rethink its regional strategy and treat the ties with its neighbours as vital. The inability to overcome old and new grievances will hamper Ukraine’s key interests, including the longer-term prospects of EU integration.
