Why Putin wants Donetsk
Will Ukraine’s fate depend on Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka? These may not be household names, but they are…
How Russia is preparing for Putin’s meeting with Trump
Amidst contradictory leaks and rumours coming from the US administration, no one is quite sure what to expect when Donald…
Why Putin’s elites keep dying
Although I suspect few readers’ hearts will bleed for them, it’s been a bad week for Russian elites. There has…
Will Putin really rein in Russia’s defence spending?
At the very time when those warmongering Nato nations are pledging to raise their defence spending substantially, that doveish peacenik…
Putin spies an opportunity in Trump’s attack on Iran
Is Donald Trump’s decision to join attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities an embarrassment, a provocation or an opportunity for Russia?…
No, Nato: Brits had not ‘better learn to speak Russian’
It seems conventional wisdom by now that the public can only be convinced by hyperbole. As Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte…
Has Serbia really fallen foul of Moscow?
Is it getting harder for Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić to maintain his balancing act between Moscow and the West? Why…
Putin and Zelensky just want to appease Trump
Ceasefire then talks, or talks then ceasefire? This has emerged as one of the pivotal issues in the diplomacy around…
Victory Day has been a triumph for Vladimir Putin
It was almost like old times, but also a sign of the new. Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day parade passed off…
Trump’s Ukraine minerals deal is pure extortion
So the on-again-off-again US-Ukrainian resources deal has been signed. It is perhaps appropriate that it was done without fanfare, marked…
Putin is terrified Ukraine will sabotage Russia’s Victory Day
Even by the elevated standards of Kremlin cynicism, Vladimir Putin’s invocation of a three-day ceasefire across the span of the…
Will the assassination of another Russian general change anything?
Friday morning, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik was heading out from his flat in Balashikha, a commuter town east of Moscow,…
What the exploding DHL packages tell us about the Kremlin
The unfolding tale of incendiary devices planted in DHL packages across Europe not only highlights the dangers of Moscow’s campaign…
Why Putin is keeping Trump waiting for a Ukraine deal
There is an odd contradiction in Russian attitudes to the current negotiations with the United States. On the one hand,…
Why Putin is keeping Trump waiting for a Ukraine deal
There is an odd contradiction in Russian attitudes to the current negotiations with the United States. On the one hand,…
Putin’s cronies are enjoying needling the West
Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), is in many ways an uncomfortable and ephemeral spy chief, but…
Are Western companies heading back to Russia?
Ever since Donald Trump’s now-infamous phone conversation with Vladimir Putin last month, Russia has been buzzing with speculation that Western…
Zelensky may regret wishing for Putin’s death
Ever since 2013, I’ve been hearing that Vladimir Putin is going to die any day. Is Volodymyr Zelensky now trying…
Putin’s duo are spinning ceasefire talks to Russia’s advantage
The delegation Moscow sent to ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia was clearly well-chosen. Grigory Karasin, for example, the former diplomat…
Trump’s call with Putin has bought Ukraine time
So who won from yesterday’s phone conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin? Arguably, no one did – but nor…
Has Ukraine called Putin’s bluff?
Has Vladimir Putin’s bluff just been called? It certainly looks like it. So long as the Ukrainians were refusing to…
Why Russia has shrugged off Trump’s sanctions threat
While Donald Trump may be threatening Moscow with major new sanctions, as it continues to hammer Ukraine with drones and…
Trump’s pausing of intelligence sharing will hit Ukraine hard
The United States’s decision to suspend all intelligence sharing with Kyiv is a less visible but almost as serious and…
What does Trump’s minerals deal mean for Ukraine?
Has Donald Trump’s heavy-handed negotiation style scored a win, or have the Ukrainians managed to wrench a victory of sorts…
Is Trump’s hostile takeover of Ukraine a trap?
That Donald Trump’s vision of the presidency is less statesman and more CEO of USA Inc. is evident in the…
