The conflict in and around Ukraine is a tragedy for all affected by the violence. It is a flashpoint for catastrophic miscalculation and is a continuing threat to security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region. A political resolution is fundamental to ending the armed conflict in the Donbas region, to improving prospects for constructive Ukraine-Russia dialogue more broadly including on Crimea, and to improving Euro-Atlantic security.
Ahead of the Munich Security Conference 2020, the Euro-Atlantic Security Leadership Group stresses the need for a political solution to the armed conflict in Ukraine. With 46 signatories from 13 countries across the Euro-Atlantic region, this statement proposes 12 practical, concrete steps that can be taken now to address urgent security, humanitarian, economic, and political concerns. Among the signatories is Lord Des Browne, Chair of the European Leadership Network and Sir Adam Thomson, Director of the European Leadership Network.
Security steps
STEP 1: Restore the JCCC.
STEP 2: Establish a Normandy-format, military-to military crisis management dialogue.
STEP 3: Improve unrestricted access and freedom of movement.
Humanitarian steps
STEP 4: Address the problem of missing persons.
STEP 5: Plan for and implement humanitarian demining initiatives.
Economic steps
STEP 6: Advance reconstruction in the Donbas.
STEP 7: Explore free trade areas.
STEP 8: Support for a roadmap on sanctions.
STEP 9: Address radiological hazards.
Political steps
STEP 10: Direct a new dialogue among Euro-Atlantic states about building mutual security.
STEP 11: Support and define areas of selective engagement between the EU and Russia.
STEP 12: Launch a new national dialogue about identity.
Download full statement (English)
Download full statement (Ukranian)
Signatories for Twelve Steps Toward Greater Security in Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic Region
Co-conveners
Des Browne
Vice Chair, Nuclear Threat Initiative; Chair of the Board of Trustees and Directors of the European Leadership Network; and former Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom
Ambassador (Botschafter) Professor Wolfgang Ischinger
Chairman (Vorsitzender), Munich Security Conference Foundation, Germany
Igor Ivanov
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Russia
Ernest J. Moniz
Co-Chair and CEO, Nuclear Threat Initiative; and former U.S. Secretary of Energy, United States
Sam Nunn
Co-Chair, Nuclear Threat Initiative; and former U.S. Senator, United States
Participants
Ambassador Brooke Anderson
Former Chief of Staff, National Security Council, United States
Steve Andreasen
National Security Consultant, Nuclear Threat Initiative; and former Director for Defense Policy and Arms Control, National Security Council, United States
Oksana Antonenko
Member of European Leadership Network Contact Group on Russia-West Relations, United Kingdom
Robert Berls
Senior Advisor for Russia and Eurasia, Nuclear Threat Initiative; and former Special Assistant for Russia/NIS Programs to the Secretary of Energy, United States
Kathryne Bomberger
Director-General, International Commission on Missing Persons, United States
Philip Mark Breedlove
General (Ret), United States Air Force; former Commander, U.S. European Command, and 17th Supreme Allied Commander Europe at NATO, United States
William J. Burns
President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, United States
General (Ret) Evgeny Buzhinskiy
Chairman of PIR Center Executive Board; Vice-President of the Russian International Affairs Council; and Lt-General (Ret), Russia
General (Ret) Vincenzo Camporini
Vice President, Istituto Affari Internazionali, Italy
Hikmet Cetin
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Turkey
Oleksandr Chalyi
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine; and President Grant Thornton Ukraine, Ukraine
James F. Collins
Ambassador (Ret), Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, United States
James Cowan
CEO, HALO Trust, United Kingdom
Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola
Former Chief of Defence; former Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee; former Minister of
Defence, Italy
Ambassador Rolf Ekéus
Diplomat and Chairman Emeritus of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Sweden
Vasyl Filipchuk
Ukrainian Diplomat; former Political and EU Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; and Senior Adviser at the International Center for Policy Studies in Kiev, Ukraine
Dr. Sabine Fischer
Senior Fellow, German Institute for International and Security Affairs/SWP, Berlin, Germany
Air Marshal Sir Chris Harper KBE
United Kingdom
Alexander Hug
Former Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Switzerland
Ian Kearns
CEO, The Oracle Partnership, United Kingdom
Bert Koenders
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands
Andrey Kortunov
Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, Russia
Mark Melamed
Senior Director, Global Nuclear Policy Program, Nuclear Threat Initiative, United States
Tom Meredith
Advisor, HALO Trust, United Kingdom
Ferdinando Nelli Feroci
President, Istituto Affari Internazionali, Italy
Professor Roland Paris
University Research Chair in International Security and Governance, University of Ottawa, Canada
Paul Quilès
Former Defence Minister; and Chairman of IDN (Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament), France Bruno Racine Chairman, Fondation pour la recherche stratégique, France
Leon Ratz
Senior Program Officer, Materials Risk Management, Nuclear Threat Initiative, United States
Joan Rohlfing
President and Chief Operating Officer, Nuclear Threat Initiative, United States
Matthew Rojansky
Director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute, United States
Lynn Rusten
Vice President, Global Nuclear Policy Program, Nuclear Threat Initiative, United States
Sir John Scarlett
Former Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service & Vice-Chairman Royal United Services Institute, United Kingdom
Oleksiy Semeniy
Advisor to the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (July 2019-January 2020)
James Stavridis
Admiral (Ret), United States Navy; former Supreme Allied Commander Europe at NATO (2009–2013); and Dean, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (2013–2018), United States
Stefano Stefanini
Former Italian Permanent Representative to NATO; European Leadership Network
Executive Board; Atlantic Council Nonresident Senior Fellow; and Project Associates Brussels Director, Italy
Sir Adam Thomson
Director, European Leadership Network, United Kingdom
Ivan Timofeev
Director of Programs at the Russian International Affairs Council, Russia
Nathalie Tocci
Director, Istituto Affari Internazionali; and Special Advisor, HR/VP, Italy
General (Ret) Dr. Erich Vad
Lecturer at the Universities of Munich and Salzburg, Germany
Marcin Zaborowski
Former Executive Director, Polish Institute of International Affairs (2010–2015), Poland
