“… Putin’s war against Ukraine is a war against youth … and not only … [with regard to] the deaths of tens of thousands of young Ukrainians and Russians. To the clique of aging former KGB officers who … usurped power in Russia, young people — if … not cogs in the Kremlin’s war machine — are a threat simply […]
» Read more
“The international arms-control architecture is falling apart, and proliferation concerns are growing.” “… Putin said last month that Moscow was suspending application of … New START … one of the last arms-control treaties still operating[,] … limit[ing] … strategic nuclear weapons deployed by Russia and the U.S. His announcement follows repeated thinly veiled threats [about Russia’s] … readiness to use […]
» Read more
“Sanctions have squeezed the economy undergirding Putin’s war in Ukraine. The West can tighten the screws more, especially on Moscow’s energy revenue.” “… [S]anctions are draining Russian state revenue and shaking the country’s financial underpinnings, gradually isolating Moscow from the global financial system. But they have not sapped [the Russian Federation’s] will or capacity to fight — or triggered the […]
» Read more
“There are numerous examples of French museums that have participated in the propagation of Russian imperialist narratives through art, according to the academic Olena Havrylchyk, who calls for ‘the decolonization of Ukrainian art.” “On February 10, 2023, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City recognized Arkhip Kuindzhi and Ilya Repin as Ukrainian painters, whereas they were previously presented […]
» Read more
“How to Protect the Country — Without NATO Membership” “Ukraine must be brought into the democratic world and strengthened … [to] resist future Russian aggression. It also needs some type of Western military protection. But policymakers need to think more broadly about Russia’s role in the postwar order …. The nation needs a constructive vision …. If after the war […]
» Read more
“An era of gray zone warfare and sabotage creates tough financial questions.” “Western European companies invested billions of dollars in the pipelines. Whether their insurance will cover the losses caused by the sabotage depends on who perpetrated it. And as the global geopolitical standoff intensifies, companies face many more enormous losses, hunts for the perpetrator, and disputes about whether the […]
» Read more
“War in Ukraine looms over Chinese leader’s visit, while the West worries about a more-powerful Russia-China axis.” “[] Xi came into the trip — the 40th meeting between the two leaders — seeking to cast himself as a potential peacemaker in the Ukraine war, even as [] Putin demonstrates his determination to carry on the fighting. … Xi’s high-profile visit […]
» Read more
“Instead of working toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict, Washington has escalated tensions with Beijing.” “… In March 2022, its present foreign minister, then–Ambassador to the United States Qin Jang, published an article … stating …: ‘On Ukraine, China’s position is objective and impartial: The purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be fully observed; the sovereignty and […]
» Read more
“… Putin on Saturday visited Crimea … a day after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him over the Ukraine conflict. Turkey meanwhile announced the extension of a deal that has allowed Ukraine to export grain …. Putin[] … was shown visiting … Sevastopol …. Putin’s visit came a day after the International Criminal Court issued an […]
» Read more
“Senior U.S. officials privately harbor concerns but Western leaders have started warming to the idea that Ukraine should kick Russia out of Crimea, despite the nuclear threats.” “… Western leaders have started warming to the idea that Ukraine can take back Crimea in spite of Russian nuclear threats, Tamila Tasheva, the Ukrainian government official in charge of Crimea, told The […]
» Read more
“… [T]he time will come for negotiations, and it is essential that the United States plans carefully for that day. … Although the contours of any deal would be determined in large part by leverage, reciprocity, negotiating skill, and quid pro quos, there are some basic principles that could help facilitate a fair and lasting agreement. … [Negotiations] … should […]
» Read more
“The White House has tapped Nicholas Berliner to serve as … Biden’s top Russia advisor, putting a career foreign officer in charge … just weeks before Ukraine is expected to launch an offensive to punch deep into Russian lines and regain more territory. … Berliner, a Russian speaker and seasoned career diplomat, has served in overseas postings in Russia, Georgia, […]
» Read more
“Ukrainians would like to rename Russia — and … Zelenskyy is interested …. A petition has … urg[ed] the Ukrainian government to officially change Russia’s name to ‘Muscovy,’ a term … originat[ing] in the 13th century … referr[ing] to large swathes of modern-day northwestern Russia. The move is part of a Ukrainian push to diminish what the Russians claim as […]
» Read more
“Factions in the military establishment are vying for position, at the expense of Putin’s invasion effort.” “One of the bloodiest battles in modern European history …. may also be the site of an extraordinary Russian civil war, playing out on Ukrainian soil between different factions. … the Wagner Group and the Russian ministry of defence. … [a] confrontation … eight […]
» Read more
“… The pace at which both sides have burned through ammunition has run up against global production capacity and export controls that restrict arms sold to one country from being transferred to another. Kyiv’s need for artillery has become more acute as it doubles down on fighting in Bakhmut, where it has signaled its willingness to tolerate heavy losses in […]
» Read more
“While Ukraine’s capital has mostly returned to normal, reminders of the brutal fighting are everywhere.” “We sat in red velvet seats under the Kyiv opera house’s soaring dome … with baroque flourishes of black and gold … wait[ing] for a ballet adaptation of one of Ukraine’s most celebrated literary works …. [On] the eve of the first anniversary of the […]
» Read more
“Trump, Pence, DeSantis, Noem address questions on how the U.S. should respond to the ongoing conflict” “… Is opposing Russia in Ukraine a vital American national strategic interest? What … is our objective in Ukraine, and how will we know when we’ve achieved it? What is the limit of funding and materiel you would be willing to send … Ukraine? […]
» Read more
“Favorability of Russia down from 15% in 2022 68% in U.S. view Ukraine favorably, highest by one point 56% now say Russia-Ukraine war is critical threat to U.S. vital interests” “The Russia-Ukraine war is now in its second year …. Americans’ opinions of Russia have deteriorated further. … easily the worst ratings of Russia in at least 34 years …. […]
» Read more
“Assets accumulated abroad may become target of Ukraine backers Record current-account surplus provided lifeline for Kremlin” “Russia was able to save abroad about a third of the $227 billion windfall earned last year from its commodity exports, creating a potential new flashpoint as the US and its allies look to tighten … sanctions …. About $80 billion is scattered across […]
» Read more
“Why has it taken a war of conquest for experts to recognize Russia’s nature as a vast imperial enterprise?” “… Russia’s nature as an imperial power is [historically and geopolitically] incontrovertible. After World War I, the Russian Empire avoided the permanent dismemberment that befell other multi-ethnic land empires …. The Soviet Union … reconquered most of the non-Russian lands … […]
» Read more
“Russia’s feeble economy cannot compete with Western production.” “As the war in Ukraine grinds on, discussion over Western assistance to the Ukrainians has focused on sophisticated weapons: missiles, battle tanks, precision munitions, and combined air operations – aka ‘fighter jets.’ [Yet] the key issue … now is supplies of ordinary dumb artillery shells. … One should … note that Russia […]
» Read more
“Chinese leader Xi Jinping is considering sending lethal aid to Moscow’s forces in Ukraine. That would be a profound mistake.” “… Until now, China has wisely kept its distance, paying lip service to its partnership with Russia while mostly adhering to Western sanctions. … Despite requests for weaponry … China has so far sent only nonlethal aid, such as helmets […]
» Read more
“Last September, when explosions damaged Nord Stream 1 and 2 … evidence of a culprit was scant. Some European governments suspected Russia. … Putin had been threatening to cut off energy supplies to Europe in retaliation for sanctions …. Russia … blamed America and Britain. Six months later American intelligence officials … [and] German and British news organisations[] have suggested […]
» Read more
“‘I think he’s doubling down,’ said William Burns. ‘I believe he’s convinced that he can make time work for him.’” “… Putin is betting that Russian forces can prevail in Ukraine through a grinding war of attrition and believes ‘Ukraine matters more to him than us,’ [said] CIA Director William Burns …. Despite morale and other problems facing Russian forces […]
» Read more
“‘The resources … Russia has … would be enough to continue the war at the present intensity for two years,’ Lithuania’s intelligence chief Elegijus Paulavicius [said] …. ‘How long Russia is be able to wage the war will also depend on the support for Russia’s military from states such as Iran and North Korea’ … Paulavicius was introducing a national […]
» Read more
“China’s intent cited in annual assessment of worldwide threats ‘Growing pessimism’ in Beijing is cited by intelligence chief” “Russia is likely to downgrade its ambitions in Ukraine for the time being to hanging onto territory seized after the start of its invasion, even as it enjoys deepening economic and defense support from China, U.S. intelligence chiefs told a Senate committee. […]
» Read more
“While both Ukrainians and Russians say the pitched battle for the city of Bakhmut could determine whether Russia can pursue more of an offensive, Western officials are skeptical.” “Even as Ukrainian and Russian leaders predicted that the fall of Bakhmut could open the way for a broader Russian offensive, the U.S. intelligence chief said Wednesday that the Kremlin’s forces were […]
» Read more
“More than a year into the war he launched … Putin is confronted with failure. Over months of offensives, the Russian war machine faltered badly, failing to capture Kyiv and buckling on other fronts …. What Putin spuriously billed as a mission to ‘denazify’ Russia’s neighbor has turned into … grinding, attritional battles, punctuated by reports of Russian atrocities and […]
» Read more
“U.S. intelligence believes … Russia will ultimately lose … in Ukraine due to … poor battlefield performance, rigid command structure and heavy losses. Even if Russian troops capture Bakhmut … it [reportedly] would not be a victory and does not show any improvement in their military effectiveness …. Moscow has managed to move its army just 43 miles in seven […]
» Read more
“… Often, the Kremlin has initially appeared to take a maximalist course. Instead of invading eastern Ukraine, it launched a full-scale assault on the whole country and tried to take Kyiv. In addition to deploying tanks, missiles, and heavy artillery, Putin has repeatedly made threats about using nuclear weapons. And he has seemingly been willing to sacrifice tens of thousands […]
» Read more
“… Wagner … now relies mostly on convicts recruited in Russian prisons …. With their policy of executing on the spot troopers who attempt to retreat or surrender, and a disregard for losses … shocking for modern warfare, Wagner’s disposable penal battalions have emerged as a unique threat to Ukrainian defenders … [while] the regular Russian military remains largely stalled. […]
» Read more
“Proponents of more aid fear that growing taxpayer fatigue toward shipping tens of billions of dollars overseas could undercut the war effort.” “… For all of the president’s bravado while he was abroad, the politics of Ukraine back home in the United States are shifting noticeably and, for the White House, worryingly. … While the bipartisan coalition in Congress favoring […]
» Read more
“The chorus … claiming the Russian economy has proven vastly more resilient than expected is growing. … The implications are equally disturbing – that unprecedented U.S.-led sanctions don’t work. … Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Far from serving as the independent arbiter of the statistical underpinnings of global economic activity, the IMF has been asleep at the […]
» Read more
“A demographic tragedy is unfolding in Russia. Over the past three years the country has lost around 2m more people than it would ordinarily have done, as a result of war, disease and exodus. The life expectancy of Russian males aged 15 fell by almost five years, to the same level as in Haiti. The number of Russians born in […]
» Read more
“… As Kyiv estimates that nearly 150,000 Russian soldiers have died since the war’s inception, Ukrainian forces may ‘strategically pull back’ from Bakhmut to avoid additional casualties of their own in what has become one of the bloodiest battles since July. … NATO officials expressed concern … that stockpiles could quickly diminish if the West doesn’t expand its industrial repertoire, […]
» Read more
“Russia’s ruptured undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines [reportedly] are set to be sealed up and mothballed as there are no immediate plans to repair or reactivate them …. Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, each consisting of two pipes, were built by … Gazprom to pump 110 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas a year to Germany under […]
» Read more
“Kennan: A Life between Worlds Frank Costigliola Princeton University Press 624pp £32” “… An obscure diplomat in 1940s Moscow, George F. Kennan (1904-2005) found fame as the architect of ‘containment’ – America’s global struggle to defend the ‘free world’ from Soviet expansionism and communist subversion. Kennan’s policy prescriptions went public when he was outed as the anonymous author of a […]
» Read more
“… Putin isn’t indifferent to public opinion, [but] he isn’t constrained by it to the extent that leaders of democracies are. He is putting his economy on a wartime footing, which will increase the production of artillery and ammunition …. After a faltering start, he has … double[d] … Russian [forces] in Ukraine … to sustain … assaults on Ukrainian […]
» Read more
“… China has … releas[ed] a twelve-point document proposing a … political settlement [for the conflict in Ukraine, with] … familiar Chinese talking points …. It repeats Beijing’s support for the UN Charter and the territorial integrity of states, … condemns unilateral sanctions, and criticizes the expansion of U.S.-led military alliances. Those who expected a roadmap to peace … will […]
» Read more
“The United States is set to send more aid to Ukraine, most of it ammunition for equipment such as HIMARS rocket launchers, before an anticipated Russian assault this spring. … Ukraine is running low on ammunition after a year of fighting Russia. The world’s biggest producers of ammunition cannot keep up with the pace of fighting, which is straining global […]
» Read more
“… Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov’s forecast comes amid considerable uncertainty about what the next phase of the war will look like …. For weeks, Ukrainian officials had signaled that Russia was planning a major new offensive …. [which] has yet to materialize. ‘Russia has wasted huge amounts of human resources, armaments and materials. Its economy and production are not able […]
» Read more
“Tangled in sanctions and Russian bureaucracy, or just looking for a buyer, many companies who promised quick exits remain in the country.” “Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a wave of promises by global businesses to exit Russia. A year later, many of those companies are still there. … Even after finding a buyer, some companies say they are struggling to […]
» Read more
“After a years-long assessment, five U.S. intelligence agencies conclude it is ‘very unlikely’ an enemy wielding a secret weapon was behind the mysterious ailment” “… State Department personnel … in U.S. embassies are among those who have reported symptoms …. Despite the new conclusions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken [reportedly] remains of the view that something happened to those employees […]
» Read more
“… Speaking at the U.N. conference on disarmament, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov denounced the U.S. and its allies for openly declaring the goal of defeating Russia in a ‘hybrid’ war …. Ryabkov warned that ‘the U.S. and NATO policy of fueling the conflict in Ukraine’ and their ‘increasing involvement in the military confrontation is fraught with a direct […]
» Read more
“… [T]here’s a weapon that could do a great deal to help Kyiv stave off future attacks [] and … be provided in large amounts at short notice: cluster munitions. … a controversial move with real risks. … More than 100 countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions … ban[ning] … stockpiling or use. The weapons … consist of […]
» Read more
“A senior Russian diplomat says Moscow may continue to exchange information with the United States on issues related to their nuclear forces even after the suspension of the last remaining arms control pact between the two countries.” “Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia has given the U.S. Embassy formal notice about the New START treaty’s suspension after … […]
» Read more
“… Kyiv is openly preparing its own major thrust against Russian ground forces in the spring. … to ‘drive a wedge’ between Crimea and … Russia[] …. [According to Ukraine’s deputy military intelligence chief,] [t]he Ukrainians are determined to … ‘liberate all occupied territories – including Crimea.’ … General Ben Hodges, former commander of U.S. forces in Europe, has devised […]
» Read more
“Any chance for peace — for even a ceasefire — will demand a dramatic intercession by countries not enmeshed in the conflict.” “On February 24, one year will have passed since the Russians invaded Ukraine. With the conflict settling into a grinding war of attrition, both sides have marked the anniversary with an escalation of both rhetoric and armaments. Any […]
» Read more
“MARGARET BRENNAN: You’ve got the whole world to watch right now, so I know you’re a busy man. I want to start on Ukraine and Russia with this anniversary. On the cusp of Russia’s invasion, you flew to Kyiv and you told President Zelenskyy, tell me if this is right, the Russians are coming to kill you. Was that the […]
» Read more
“… Americans and others who closely studied the Communist leadership of the Soviet Union used to be called ‘Kremlinologists.’ Now there’s a new generation of analysts who could be called ‘Putinologists,’ those seeking to understand Russia today by deconstructing its leader and the war he’s waging in Ukraine. … Kremlinolgists tried to interpret the Soviet Union from fragmentary information coming […]
» Read more