Category: Russia
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Russia’s push to a revanchalist future
Russia is going to set out its demands for a cessation to the hostilities in Ukraine in the coming week. The ideas, thoughts and arguments whether there is any workable argument that means Ukraine can accept an agreement is likely to be negated by the smattering of arguments coming from Washington. Whether Trump knows what…
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The polarisation of identity
JD Vance argues that a security guarantee does not meet the defence capabilities necessary to guarantee Ukrainian sovereignty. The vice president in an interview with Fox placed his argument in front of millions of Americans who were his target audience. After the debacle of the White house meeting with Zelensky, it is not really a…
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Russia moving into a critical period economically
There is a concern that Trump will step in just when Russia runs out of steam. What does this mean, Russian interest rates are at an eye watering twenty one percent, the Rouble has lost value against the US dollar and the Chinese Yuan. There is an expectation that the rouble has further to fall,…
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Syria….twelve years on
Its not easy assessing the situation in Syria, but the facts are very easy to manage if you are cynical. The idea that Aleppo, Hama and possibly Homs have fallen is a significant factor in the analysis of the war. But the question is what has happened to the Syrian army that it capitulated so…
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Is it time to get tougher with Russia….
With the end of Navalny, Russians seem to have lost the one voice that could be heard by millions who were either gasping at the audacity of his latest prank or just finding an understanding of what an extraordinary man he was. But Russia has never been short of these kind of characters until now,…
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What did NATO achieve in Washington
NATO didn’t quite get there for Ukraine, but its attempts to Trump proof any agreements that Trump would make with Putin, could and would be undone by NATO’s affirmation of Ukraine as a partner. The US elections ran large over NATO’s summit in Washington and everyone was watching out for any gaffes that Biden would…
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Critical time for the world, is America up to it…?
It was sad to see Biden stumble about on stage and lose his train of thought. Neither candidate seemed that well-informed and if the free world rests on the inconsistencies of Trump or the frailty of Biden, the world is in trouble. There was an element of sadness that the frailties of Biden were on display,…
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Revisionists and war
It is just about the only time that arguments are defined biblically, but the start of extended wars has encapsulated not just Netanyahu but also Putin. The war in Gaza is one of biblical proportions according to the hard line cabinet that Netanyahu has gathered as a government. In many ways Putin has argued that…
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Ukraine – NATO…. Russia
Constants are at the top of the list in Warsaw and Paris; the Baltic’ nations press ever harder for Ukraine to join NATO, but Germany and the US have made certain that Ukraine will not be joining NATO any time soon. The constant in this equation is Putin, who has been re-elected with an eighty…
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Putin’s confidence in winning the war, not just in Ukraine.
Yesterday was the day of the funeral of Alexei Nevalny… A sombre affair with thousands queueing to pay their respects. They stood in silence holding onto flowers and entered the Orthodox church while being monitored by the state security forces. There was no family apart from Navalny’s parents. Alexei Navalny’s wife was in Europe, doing her…