Russia
The Russian army is failing – but not enough to lose the war
There have been three major surprises for military analysts since the Russian military invaded Ukraine. The first has been the…
Saboteurs and looters: life in Ukraine’s capital
Lviv, Ukraine Russian troops have yet to reach the centre of Kiev. Instead, locals have two more immediate concerns: saboteurs…
Macron appears unassailable
Emmanuel Macron, the President of France for whom few voters have expressed much affection, is suddenly the leader of a…
Are Poles really against immigrants?
Krakow The invasion of Ukraine is being felt across Europe. Already hundreds of thousands of displaced Ukrainians are spilling out…
The crisis in Ukraine is strengthening the EU
The EU has a knack for turning a crisis into an opportunity. The Eurozone crisis led to the centralisation of…
No-fly zones won’t work, but what about aid to Ukraine?
Vladimir Putin’s forces are encircling the cities of Kharkiv, Kherson and Mariupol, and a 40 mile-long convoy of Russian armoured vehicles…
The Putin apologists of the European parliament
Never underestimate Vladimir Putin, and certainly never underestimate his advisers. Well before the first Russian rockets exploded in metropolitan Kiev,…
Ethical investors have weakened the West’s defences
It won’t be the first, or indeed the most serious, casualty of the war in Ukraine. It probably won’t be…
Has Putin’s invasion changed the world order?
Is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ‘a turning point in history’? Does it spell the end of the American era, and…
‘Staying Switzerland’ on Ukraine is impossible
The striking thing about the financial sanctions on Russia is not their severity, but just how many countries are joining…
Viktor Orbán has played a perfect game with Putin
On 3 April Hungarians will have their ninth set of free parliamentary elections since the collapse of the communist dictatorship…
Will Britain welcome Ukrainian refugees?
Immigration used to be the most-discussed issue in British politics. It gets less attention these days, for reasons too varied…
Germany has rejected Merkel’s military legacy
‘We are witnessing a turning point… the world is not the same anymore,’ said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz yesterday in…
Has Putin resurrected the West?
I think Putin will have been surprised. I mean: I was surprised. Weren’t you? Not, necessarily, that Ukraine should have…
The war in Ukraine has divided Putin’s court
It is striking how little enthusiasm there is in Russia for Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine – but for some, it has…
The end of the post-Cold War era
Russia’s invasion is not just an effort to retake what was once part of the Soviet Union. It is a…
A new Europe is emerging from this crisis
With every hour that Kiev holds out, the geopolitics of Europe changes more. Germany, which so values its prohibition on…
China is tying itself in knots over Ukraine
A few hours after Vladimir Putin sent his tanks into Ukraine, Beijing announced that Russian wheat, previously barred because of…
It’s time for Germany to stand up to Russia
In his novel The Loyal Subject, which appeared on the eve of the first world war, Heinrich Mann, the brother…
Portrait of the week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, announced, in the House of Commons, sanctions against Russia after its ‘renewed invasion’ of…
The Spectator’s Notes
We are always cautioned against comparing a modern political event with those that led up to the second world war.…
Letters
The Bull of Oman Sir: There was one significant omission in the cast of characters mentioned by Charles Moore in…
Barometer
Blow by blow Did Storm Eunice really set a new record for wind speed in England? A 122 mph gust…
Tsar Vladimir
To appreciate Putin’s intent, you only have to look at Russian history
Are Russians turning against Putin?
One of the reasons why I judged — wrongly — that Vladimir Putin would not order an all-out invasion of…
