Vladimir Putin
Viktor Orbán is no friend of the West
Viktor Orbán‘s victory speech in Budapest on Sunday night took a curious turn. Speaking after a fourth landslide win, he…
The rouble’s astonishing recovery
The tank columns are stalled; one or two towns captured from the Ukrainians have been retaken. Russia’s war effort has…
Francis Fukuyama on Ukraine, liberalism and identity politics
This week, Sam Leith spoke to Francis Fukuyama – the author of ‘The End of History and the Last Man’ and…
Putin and the Muslim world
Several thousand Muslim Chechen fighters are reportedly massing on the edge of Kiev. Syrian volunteers, filmed this week holding assault…
What happens if Russia defaults?
Well down the list of things to worry about as the ghastly Ukrainian tragedy unfolds is the high probability that the…
Low life
I thought, or anyway hoped, that once I’d finished the chemotherapy I would spring back to vitality. Seven weeks on…
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…
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…
Putin is bored
At the beginning of this year, Vladimir Putin was sitting comfortably in the Kremlin: his legacy so far a steady…
Russia’s war on Ukraine: the lessons so far
The sheer complexity – and horror – of Russia’s war on Ukraine makes it difficult to distil the essential points. To take…
How close is Russia to collapse?
Russia is now as closed off to the world as the Soviet Union was before Mikhail Gorbachev made his first tentative steps…
Do Russians support Putin’s war?
Everyone is calling the conflict in Ukraine Putin’s war and insisting that it has nothing to do with the Russians…
The downfall of Russia’s oligarchs
The normal justification for sanctioning oligarchs is that doing so will cost them money, causing them to put pressure on…
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…
‘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…
Now Lebedev turns on Putin
Looks like this war isn’t going terribly well for Vladimir Putin. The Russian dictator now finds himself something of an international pariah, with…
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…
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…
To hurt Putin, go for oil and gas – not Swift
Both the British and the Americans have been explicit that it is the Europeans who are blocking Russia being cut…
Boris Johnson needs even tougher sanctions to deter Putin
Boris Johnson has just outlined a series of further sanctions on Russia. They are considerably more substantial than the ones…
Read: Boris Johnson’s address to the nation as Russia invades Ukraine
Shortly after 4 o’clock this morning I spoke to President Zelensky of Ukraine to offer the continued support of the…
Boris Johnson promises more sanctions
Following Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Boris Johnson has addressed the nation. Speaking from 10…
Two reasons Putin thinks he can weather sanctions
The nature of the Russian attack on Ukraine, striking across the country and not just concentrating on the territory claimed…
