History is not an accident: the return of molotovs and ribbentrops?
Organized by RUTA Association & Tallinn University
March 7, 2025, 16:00 – 17:30 EET (GMT +2) / Tallinn & Kyiv time, ZOOM
The U.S. is trying to strike a deal with Putin’s Russia. It does so over the heads of Ukraine and Europe. This move echoes some of the darkest moments in European history: the Munich Agreement of 1938, the Soviet-Nazi Pact of 1939, and the Yalta Conference of 1945.
At the same time, Trump and his officials are leading a denigration campaign against Ukraine and attempting and planning to exploit its natural resources. This marks a crucial turning point in transatlantic relations. Experts from the RUTA region and beyond will discuss the implications. What do these events mean for Ukraine, Europe, and the world?
Speakers: Kseniya Oksamytna, Terrell Jermaine Starr, Mart Kuldkepp
Moderator: Una Bergmane
Kseniya Oksamytna is a Reader in International Politics, City St George’s, University of London. Her research interests focus on international organisations, security, and peace operations. Her book, “Advocacy and Change in International Relations: Communication, Protection, and Reconstruction in UN Peacekeeping,” was the winner of last year’s Chadwick Alger Book Award by the International Studies association.
Terrell Jermaine Starr is an independent journalist based in Ukraine whose work helps non-experts understand world politics and why we should care. His expertise focuses on Ukraine and Eastern European politics, as well as communicating foreign policy issues in accessible ways.
Mart Kuldkepp is an Estonian Scandinavianist and historian. He completed his PhD in Scandinavian Studies at University of Tartu, Estonia, in 2014. In 2015 he joined University College London (UCL) where he is currently Professor of Estonian and Nordic History. Mart specialises on Scandinavian and Baltic history and politics – especially foreign and security policy – and early 20th century wars. He is also interested in contemporary Baltic and Scandinavian politics, especially foreign and security policy.
Una Bergmane is a Latvian historian working on the Soviet collapse. She is a researcher at the University of Helsinki. Her first book, “Politics of Uncertainty. The United States, the Baltic Question, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union” was published in 2023 by OUP.
The event is being organized by RUTA Association for Central, South-Eastern, and Eastern European, Baltic, Caucasus, Central and Northern Asian Studies in Global Conversation & Tallinn University, Institute of Humanities. The event is funded by the project PRG2592 “Memory and Environment: The Intersection of Fast and Slow Violence in Transnational European Literatures.”