The Petrach Program on Ukraine at IERES invites you to the following mini-conference as part of the 2026 annual Workshop on Contemporary Ukrainian Politics: Are the Walls Closing in on Ukraine? When Anti-Imperial Resilience Meets Domestic Scandal & Trump Diplomacy.

As Russia’s deadly invasion grinds on, Ukraine’s leadership is under tremendous pressure from both within and without. From within, its anti-corruption agencies recently unveiled their massive “Midas” investigation, implicating some of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s closest associates in scandal. This put him on the defensive domestically at a critical moment in the war: Gradual Russian advances continue while new American peace proposals demand it make deeply unpopular concessions without the security guarantees Ukrainians believe they need. This event brings together many of the world’s leading researchers on Ukraine’s domestic and international politics for a frank assessment of Ukraine’s situation and prospects for peace in a pair of expert-moderated roundtables, with a keynote address by one of the most experienced US diplomatic experts on Ukraine.

Please find the full conference agenda here: https://conta.cc/4pUCwMB.