On June 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko a one-week ultimatum: remove all equipment assisting Russia with drone targeting or Ukraine would strike Belarus. “If he doesn’t do it, we will,” he said, adding that “a week is enough for him to do that.” From the first days of Russia’s invasion, … Read more
Sir Keir Starmer bowed to the inevitable Monday and resigned from leadership of the Labour Party and, therefore, from his role as prime minister. The resignation had been brewing for some time. While Starmer led the Labour Party to an astounding landslide election victory in July 2024, by September 2025, he was already being labeled … Read more
Journalist James Verini’s new book, The Theater: Courage and Survival in the Defining Atrocity of the Ukraine War, tells the story of Ukrainians who turned a Mariupol dramatic arts theater into a haven for refugees after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. In this excerpt, Verini tells the story of aspiring actors Liza and Dima, a … Read more
When Donald Trump arrived in the White House in January 2025, securing a quick end to the war in Ukraine was near the top of his foreign policy agenda. Despite political backlash, he pushed ahead with this objective early in his second term by resuming dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin and initiating parallel diplomatic … Read more
Given the uneven course of the Russian economy during the first five months of 2026, Russian authorities, especially President Vladimir Putin, were keen to minimize the impacts of any possible stagnation at the 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. When asked by a reporter about Russia’s stagnating economy, Putin avoided a detailed response and paraphrased … Read more
The warning from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the U.S. and European governments to evacuate their diplomats and citizens from Kyiv before Russia launches “systematic strikes” marks a drastic escalation in the Ukraine conflict — with a serious risk of drawing the Washington and NATO into direct conflict with Russia. It most probably means … Read more