Russia
The madness of mutual mayhem — and not exploiting our own fuel reserves
I’ll approach the hot topic of a ban on Russian oil by way of personal anecdote: I’ve never been a…
Russia’s memory war
It seems strange now that any of us ever imagined that Putin might not invade. He thinks of Ukraine as…
The Spectator’s Notes
I wish people would not say Vladimir Putin is mad. One understands him much better if one says he is…
A price worth paying
Nato countries are being careful not to do anything that Russia could claim is an act of war. Just look…
Barometer
High commodity Nickel trading was suspended this week after prices rose to over $100,000 per tonne – double its previous…
Letters
Unintended consequences Sir: The West has got it wrong when it comes to putting a stranglehold on Vladimir Putin (‘Putin’s…
The commodity kings
Have traders finally discovered a moral compass?
Wild life
Kenya During Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 I got a close look at Moscow’s troops and their kit. These…
Portrait of the week
Home President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine addressed a packed House of Commons by video, echoing Winston Churchill by declaring that…
Hour of need
Why is the UK putting up obstacles to deter Ukrainian refugees?
Diary
Central to the question of whether or not Ukraine can survive as an independent state is that of re-supply, not…
Moscow Notebook
Things fall apart. Moscow friends call to say that I have to urgently send my 19-year-old son out of Russia.…
Can Boris get the Saudis to pump more oil?
The oil price is up by more than 40 per cent since the start of the year. It is being…
Don’t make war in Ukraine about Putin’s mental health
There was a time when supposedly serious commentators on world affairs used to at least feign historical knowledge. They might…
Putin’s neo-communism is doomed to fail
It is responsible for inequality. For financial instability. And probably for poverty, racism and global warming as well. We have…
Chernobyl Two?
The electricity supply to the ruined nuclear plant at Chernobyl in Ukraine has been cut off. According to one knowledgeable…
Dostovesky and Putin’s useful idiots
When I was 17 I heard the name Dostovesky, and was enthralled. Just the name felt so glamorously intellectual, so…
What’s behind Russia’s new Z symbol?
National symbols are usually proudly emblazoned for all to see. That’s the point of them. One, though, seems rather to have…
In defence of mutually assured destruction
The slow return of the 1980s has reached its logical conclusion. The prospect of nuclear annihilation is haunting our nightmares once…
Why is Britain so useless at helping Ukrainian refugees?
Some MPs were in tears yesterday when President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the House of Commons, and understandably so, given the…
British fighters in Ukraine are brave but misguided
The first British volunteers have arrived in Ukraine to ‘do their bit’ in thwarting the Russian invasion. According to reports…
Putin is bored
At the beginning of this year, Vladimir Putin was sitting comfortably in the Kremlin: his legacy so far a steady…
Zelensky’s address was strange, but sensational
This afternoon, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the House of Commons. A single flat-screen TV broadcast his speech to…
Could Turkey rejoin the West?
Istanbul, Turkey Wherever you go in Istanbul, Atatürk is rarely far away. Portraits of the man who founded the Turkish…
Putin miscalculated. Let’s not do the same
Only the Russian people can decide how long Putin remains in the Kremlin, but the invasion of Ukraine will likely…
