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As Manafort Trial Begins, A Look At The State Of The Ukraine Conflict

05:35

July 31, 2018

A Ukrainian service member monitors the positions of Russia-backed separatists on the front-line near the southeastern city of Mariupol on June 11, 2018. (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images)

A federal trial begins Tuesday for Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort faces tax evasion and bank fraud charges in connection to his lobbying work for the former pro-Russian government of Ukraine.

After that government fell in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and launched a campaign to help pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with Yuval Weber (@yuvalweber), global fellow at the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center and associate professor at the Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security.

This segment aired on July 31, 2018.