Putin has played Trump like a fiddle
And so it begins. Welcome to the first episode of the latest season of Putin’s Theatre of Fugazi – the…
What Vladimir Putin really wants from Ukraine
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have very different negotiating styles. Trump lines up his offer in advance, browbeating all the…
Why Russia should agree to a ceasefire – and five reasons Putin might not
The main achievement of the US-Ukrainian talks in Jeddah was to produce a ceasefire document that Russia might actually want…
Russian spying has become a pathetic, amateurish business
Make no mistake: whatever higher moral authority they may have invoked in their defence, Soviet and Russian spies have never…
Trump’s Ukraine strategy is mad. But it might work
Will the real Volodymyr Zelensky please stand up? On Sunday, Ukraine’s president defiantly stated that ‘the final deal about ending…
‘Europe plus’ won’t save Ukraine
Days after the disastrous White House showdown between Volodymir Zelensky and Donald Trump, Sir Keir Starmer has done an undoubtedly…
Zelensky knew who he was dealing with. And he misstepped
Seldom in modern times has the fate of a whole nation been so dependent on a single meeting and on…
Trump won’t find a minerals bonanza in Ukraine
US President Donald Trump has announced that Ukraine is ready to sign a deal that gives US investors a share…
How the Ukraine conflict has changed the nature of war
Three years ago today, Russian tanks rolled over the Ukrainian border in a massive surprise attack. Russian unit commanders and…
The Trump-Zelensky train wreck will cost Ukraine dearly
Where did it all go wrong between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky? Just a week ago, Zelensky was speaking of…
Could Zelensky have made a deal to stop the war?
Is there any truth to Donald Trump’s extraordinary and, to many, highly offensive comments apparently blaming Volodymir Zelensky for starting…
British troops won’t help Ukraine
Sir Keir Starmer’s proposal to put British troops on the ground as part of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine is…
Putin’s éminence grise: The Wizard of the Kremlin, by Giuliano da Empoli, reviewed
Modelled on Putinism’s founding father, Vladislav Surkov, the protagonist of this internationally acclaimed novel pales by comparison with the real-life ideologue
Trump might really be a ‘peacemaker’ in Ukraine
In a move likely to mark the beginning of the end of the Ukraine war, Donald Trump today announced that…
Why Trump hates USAID so much
The Trump administration’s takedown of federal spending has begun in earnest with the dismantling of the US Agency for International…
Is Europe about to switch Nord Stream back on?
Could Gazprom’s Nord Stream undersea gas pipelines, partially destroyed by saboteurs in September 2022, eventually be reopened? This week, Denmark’s…
Putin’s Middle Eastern house of cards
The Kremlin’s involvement in Syria’s civil war was always, first and foremost, about posing as a great multi-regional power rather…
The deepening unpopularity of Zelensky
Perhaps all political careers must end, inevitably, in failure. But few politicians have had careers as meteoric, as surprising, as…
Biden’s missiles will do Ukraine no favours
With just over 60 days left in office, Joe Biden’s White House has significantly escalated the Ukraine war it had…
The appalling truth about London’s ambulance service
‘An old lady’s fallen down – quick! She’s bleeding. Come help.’ An elderly woman lay on the entrance steps of…
Donald Trump’s win marks the beginning of the end of the Ukraine war
Donald Trump’s election victory heralds the beginning of the end of the Ukraine war – and is likely to leave…
Meet the western conservatives moving to Russia
Tofurious Maximus Crane was sitting in a barber’s chair in Moscow when he received the greatest news of his life.…
Ukraine’s Nato fantasy
Ukraine’s President Zelensky was in Downing Street last week – as well as Paris, Rome, Berlin and Dubrovnik – asking…
Few rulers can have rejoiced in a less appropriate sobriquet than Augustus the Strong
The 17th-century Elector of Saxony was notoriously vain and incompetent, and his reckless bid for the Polish crown was disastrous for all concerned
What does ‘victory’ for Ukraine look like?
This week in New York Volodymyr Zelensky will present Joe Biden with a ‘Victory Plan’ for Ukraine. But how to…
