Director of the Center V. Dubovyk has had a presentation at the PONARS Eurasia conference in Washington, D.C. on September 23d, 2016.

"Whether in dealing with Russia, carrying out reforms, or fighting corruption, Kyiv heavily depends on the West, in particular the United States. The degree of U.S. diplomatic, financial, and military assistance to Ukraine has grown markedly over the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden routinely appeals to Kyiv for progress, and U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt is involved in Ukrainian affairs on a daily basis. Has Ukraine become a client state of the United States or lost its “agency” in the international arena? Considering that the United States is trying to push Ukraine in the right direction, is Western dependency detrimental? Perhaps not in the short term, but ultimately Ukraine must be able to wholly independently manage its own affairs, an outcome that the United States encourages" - Volodymyr Dubovyk argued.