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Some diplomats and experts speculated that the White House had little appetite for a Senate confirmation hearing that could devolve into a debate about Nord Stream 2, a natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany that members of both parties have criticized Mr. Biden for not opposing more vigorously. Republicans might also use a confirmation hearing to dredge up the past business activities in Ukraine of Mr. Bidens son, Hunter, although one Senate Republican official said he was aware of no plans to do so.

Also unclear is why Ukraine might not have immediately signed off on Ms. Brink, a Foreign Service officer for more than two decades who has been posted in two other former Soviet republics, Uzbekistan and Georgia.

The Kremlins position. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has increasingly portrayed NATOs eastward expansion as an existential threat to his country, said that Moscows growing military presence on the Ukrainian border was a response to Ukraines deepening partnership with the alliance.

Mr. Zelenskys office has consolidated much of its foreign policy activity with his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who speaks regularly to Mr. Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in what has become the center of gravity of the U.S.-Ukrainian relationship. It is possible the Ukrainians prefer to keep it that way.

Ukrainian officials in recent years have also seen American ambassadors as patronizing scolds who continually issue statements and call meetings to reprimand Ukrainian elites over insider dealing and good governance failures.

And then there is the memory of the Trump years, and the dismissal of Ms. Yovanovitch. In the events leading to his impeachment, Mr. Trump, hoping to damage Mr. Biden before the 2020 election, leveraged U.S. military aid to pressure Mr. Zelensky to investigate Hunter Bidens work for a Ukrainian energy company, according to testimony during the impeachment hearings.

In April 2019, Mr. Trumps personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani persuaded the president to remove Ms. Yovanovitch from the position after she opposed Mr. Giulianis efforts there to dig up dirt on Hunter Biden. (No evidence of wrongdoing was found on the part of Hunter Biden or his father. Mr. Trump denied doing anything improper and was acquitted in his Senate trial.)

In a reminder that the position can get tangled in Ukraines contentious domestic politics, some Ukrainian officials encouraged Mr. Giulianis opposition to Ms. Yovanovitch because her focus on anti-corruption initiatives threatened their interests. The countrys top prosecutor at the time, Yuriy Lutsenko, referred to Ms. Yovanovitch in a text message to an associate as an idiot, according to evidence released during the impeachment proceedings.

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Puzzle in Ukraine Crisis: Wheres the U.S. Ambassador? - The New York Times

Melinda Simmons, the British ambassador to Ukraine, has been winning plaudits for her decision to stay in post in Kyiv, working with a much-reduced staff to help UK citizens out of the country and to manage the steady flow of British dignitaries still flying to the country to show their solidarity.

Given the clarity, frequency and urgency of the British intelligence warnings of an imminent Russian invasion, including the possibility of airstrikes, it is surprising that she has until now insisted she remain in situ alongside a core team.

Her decision to stay put, along with most EU embassies, will be popular with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. He is deeply unhappy that some western embassies including the US, Canada and Australia decided to move from Kyiv to Lviv or other cities in the west of the country. At a joint briefing on Monday Zelinskiy said he was determined to prevent an exodus of his political and business class, and questioned their logic. There is no western Ukraine, he said. There is Ukraine; it is integral. Because if, God forbid, something happens, it will be everywhere.

Simmonss decision to stay may also be an implicit admission that the Foreign Office did not cover itself in glory in its handling of the fall of Kabul.

It might be thought that the Conservative press would treat her decision to stay put as a sign of the sangfroid on which the British diplomatic class like to pride themselves. But Douglas Murray, associate editor of the Spectator, took umbrage at her admissions that she sometimes needed to take walks to relieve herself of stress. When exactly did Simmons-like behaviour become our national character? When did me-time and self-esteem replace stoicism? People used to talk of drawing on reserves in a crisis, not least because it gave confidence to our friends and allies as well as to ourselves. Clearly that isnt the case now.

Those who know her say she is regarded as a highly focussed humanitarian, and part of a new generation of British female ambassadors.

Born in the East End of London to Jewish parents, her family is from Poland on her fathers side, but her mothers side is both Lithuanian and Ukrainian. Fluent in German and French, she came into the diplomatic network in 2003 via the Department for International Development (DfID) relatively late 10 years after university, and after spending time in advertising and marketing, which she quit in disillusionment, taking a 50% pay cut to work for a peace-building NGO. Her husband was a journalist specialising in Africa. Her DfID career had a heavy Africa focus and she specialised in conflict resolution and prevention. Her move to the Foreign Office in 2013, and to the National Security Secretariat, meant a drift from soft to harder power. In 2018 she started language training in preparation for taking up her post in Kyiv in 2019. For the de-stressing reviled by the Spectator she tries baking and boxing.

Inside the Foreign Office she has tried to be a trailblazer, but admits it can be hard, once saying: I think its really difficult to build the courage to speak up for yourself. Often for women, thats just a step too far out of your comfort zone, plus theres a real why bother button that switches on in your head. Giving yourself permission to be heard is hugely empowering. She awards herself one specialist skill the ability to pick up the phone to anyone, no matter how senior, to get her point across.

Apart from shepherding British citizens on to commercial flights or over the border into Poland, her key task is to manage the sometimes fractious relations between the Ukrainian government and Britain. There is for instance great resentment in Ukraine about the wests dire warnings of a Russian invasion, warnings that the UK has been at the forefront of.

She has also not been afraid to sound the alarm bells over any backsliding in Ukraines fight against corruption.

She recently told one Ukrainian interviewer: When Brits think about Ukraine, by large they think about corruption and they think about war. She said pretty pictures of the Carpathian mountains or Odessa will not shift that narrative. By contrast, positive stories about progress in tackling corruption and positive stories about Ukraine growing in strength as a confident democracy, these are the things that will alter the perceptions of Brits.

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UK ambassador to Ukraine praised for staying put amid fears of invasion - The Guardian

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Global Social Media Integration Market All inclusive Survey and Outlook Report 2022-2036 Talking Democrat - Talking Democrat

World leaders are staging talks with Russia this week in a last-ditch attempt to stop Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine after months of escalating tension.

The UK government claim negotiations have reached a "critical juncture" and are desperately needed to bring the Kremlin "back from the brink of war".

With more than 100,000 Russian troops assembled at the Ukrainian border, inside Belarus and across the Black Sea, US intelligence officials claim an invasion could happen at "any moment".

Ambassador backtracks comments on Ukraine's NATO membership - live updates

Russia, however, continues to deny it is planning to go to war, but has showed little sign of backing down from its demands over Ukraine and NATO.

Here Sky News looks at who the key players are in the crisis.

Russia

Vladimir Putin

A former KGB agent, Putin has led Russia since 2000 and become synonymous with the country's increasingly hostile foreign policy.

Over the past two decades he has sought to reassert Russian dominance in the East, illegally invading and annexing the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014.

Russian troops began to appear on its border with Ukraine in late-2021, before the Kremlin made demands in December that NATO ceases all military activity in eastern Europe and Ukraine is never allowed to become a member.

He has repeatedly denied he is planning to invade Ukraine, but hasn't demonstrated any will to negotiate on his demands around Ukraine and NATO.

Sergei Lavrov

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been a key negotiator in the crisis, meeting with his US counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and numerous others from across the West.

He has been in post since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.

In the run-up to the invasion, he told John Kerry, the US secretary of state at the time, that Russia had "absolutely no intention of, or interest in, crossing Ukraine's borders".

He previously told Mr Blinken that chances of a breakthrough in talks were "low" and mocked Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, after she visited Moscow for being "unprepared" and compared their conversation to "talking to a deaf person".

Sergei Shoigu

The defence minister also holds the rank of general of the Russian army and has been touted as a potential successor of Mr Putin given the pair's close ties.

In post since 2012, Mr Shoigu oversaw the invasion of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine later accused him of forming illegal rebel groups who fought against the Ukrainian Army.

He has held talks with various Western powers during the recent crisis, describing UK-Russian cooperation as "close to zero" after a meeting in Moscow with his counterpart, Ben Wallace.

There are around 130,000 troops stationed on the Russian border, as well as warplanes and ships in the Black Sea.

Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

A former actor and comedian, political outsider Volodymyr Zelenskyy won the 2019 elections by a landslide.

Mr Zelenskyy has tried to distance Ukraine from Russia, despite Mr Putin's efforts to reassert influence on its former Soviet neighbour, instead setting his sights on both NATO and EU membership.

In response to the build-up of Russian troops at its border in late 2021, he called on NATO leaders to expedite Ukraine's membership and claimed a group of Russians and Ukrainian rebels were planning a coup to oust him.

He has the support of the West, including the United States, which has repeatedly said it would defend Ukraine should Russia invade.

Dmytro Kuleba

The Ukrainian foreign minister and a member of its National Defense and Security Council, Dmytro Kuleba is one of the youngest senior diplomats in the country's history.

He has repeatedly downplayed the imminent threat of a Russian invasion, accusing the US of exaggerating the danger.

During talks this month he maintained the Russian presence at Ukraine's border is "insufficient for a large-scale military operation".

And despite no sign of any Russian concessions, Mr Kuleba has insisted that Western presence in the region for talks "upsets the Kremlin's plans".

Denis Pushilin

After the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, two other areas, both in the eastern Donbas region, declared independence from Ukraine.

Both the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are backed by Russia.

The DPR's separatist leader Denis Pushilin has said that increasing Western support of Ukraine could mean a full-scale war with Russia breaking out at any time.

"I don't rule out that Ukraine can attack at any moment," he said.

Some 15,000 people have been killed in fighting between separatists and the Ukrainian Army since 2014 - with senior government sources claiming Russia has deployed around 2,000 personnel to support the region since tensions escalated late last year.

Belarus

Alexander Lukashenko

President Alexander Lukashenko is a firm ally of Mr Putin, with the two countries forming a so-called union state to support economic and military integration.

Russia has been staging military drills involving 30,000 troops inside Belarus and close to its border with Ukraine.

The strategic location of the exercises has prompted fears that should Russia go to war with Ukraine, soldiers would easily be able to access the capital Kyiv and stage an invasion.

Ukraine have described the drills as "psychological pressure", but like Mr Putin, Mr Lukashenko is still denying there is a planned invasion.

"I'm certain there will be no war," he said this month.

United States

With the crisis mounting and sanctions on both sides, relations between Russia and the United States have been described as "at their worst since the Cold War".

After Russian troops emerged at the Ukrainian border last year, President Joe Biden declared his support of Ukraine and threatened the Kremlin with "strong economic and other measures".

In January, Mr Biden was criticised for saying a "minor incursion" by Russia would result in a lesser response from western allies, before the White House clarified his comments.

The US has since been represented at negotiations by Mr Blinken, who has travelled to Kyiv and Switzerland in an attempt to talk Russia down.

Last month he said any form of Russian aggression against Ukraine would be met with a "swift, severe, united" response.

Europe

As well as NATO itself, European leaders have also been trying to negotiate with their Russian counterparts.

French President Emmanuel Macron is trying to use the Minsk accords it brokered between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists alongside Germany in 2014 and 2015.

The Normandy format within the ceasefire agreement facilitates all four countries sitting around a negotiating table together.

Mr Macron has spoken directly to both Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy in recent weeks but has been criticised for some of his interventions.

Germany's new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is also visiting both Kyiv and Moscow.

Mr Scholz's position is made more difficult by the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Germany and Russia, which his Western allies have called on him to block, but on which no firm action has yet been taken.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is made up of 30 member states across Europe and America.

Russia and Ukraine are not members, but the latter has been pathing a way to NATO membership since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Mr Putin's main concern is NATO dominance in eastern Europe, where he is trying to re-establish Russia's Soviet-era influence.

He is demanding NATO never allow Ukraine to become a member.

Jens Stoltenberg, its secretary general, has said that a "sovereign, independent and stable Ukraine" is "key to Euro-Atlantic security" and is backing member states in their negotiations with Russia.

Although aiming for a peaceful resolution, NATO troops could be used to back Ukraine in the event of an invasion.

The rest is here:
Ukraine-Russia crisis: Who are the key players as war risks breaking out between Kyiv and the Kremlin? - Sky News

The University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media is excited to host the inaugural IMC Connect!: A Roundtable Experience at the University of Mississippi in on Oxford March 31 and April 1.

We are honored to welcome to Farley Hall communication executives from some of the most prominent organizations in the world, along with the leading researchers in their respective fields, including:

The purpose of this event is to foster connections and collaborations among multiple stakeholders, including integrated marketing communications practitioners, academic researchers, faculty members, and students, said Dr. Amanda Bradshaw, co-chair of IMC Connect! and assistant professor at the School of Journalism and New Media.

Throughout this round table experience, students, faculty, and staff will have the opportunity to network and participate in many working sessions, including a discussion of the IMC curriculum at the University of Mississippi and how to best prepare our students for entering the job market.

To aid in these efforts, IMC Connect! 2022 features a Q&A Job Prep Panel: The Connection Between Research and Practice hosted by the University of Mississippi Public Relations Student Society of America chapter on March 31.

The following day, invited guests will come together at the Inn at Ole Miss for four panel sessions, which will include valuable insights and knowledge on the following topics: crisis communication, social media and big data analytics, advertising and building your brand, and the role of advocacy and social justice in public relations.

The School of Journalism and New Media is excited to give these distinguished guests the ultimate Ole Miss/Oxford experience filled with Southern hospitality, which includes a private tour of Rowan Oak, a walking campus tour, and so much more.

IMC Connect! 2022 is open to journalism and integrated marketing communication (IMC) students and faculty from the School of Journalism and New Media. Students and faculty may register for the event using the official UM GivePulse platform. Pre-registration is required, and you must put in your UM login credentials to register.

Click here to learn more about the exciting IMC Connect! 2022 agenda, or contact event co-chairs, Drs. Amanda Bradshaw or Robert Magee, for more information. Asbrads1@olemiss.edu; rgmagee@olemiss.edu

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IMC Connect! will bring together industry practitioners, academic researchers, faculty and students - School of Journalism and New Media - Ole Miss...