The sanctions straitjacket on Russia’s defence sector
Maintaining a self-sufficient defence-industrial complex has long been an uphill struggle for Russia – and recent sanctions have only steepened its climb
Gustav Gressel
Russia’s Ukraine policy: Change to stay the same
The Kremlin is losing long-time Ukraine policy chief, Vladislav Surkov. But his successor has more in common with “Putin’s Rasputin” than first meets the eye.
Murder in Berlin: Not just Germany’s problem
The Tiergarten hitman travelling freely across the Schengen area should prompt reflection in European capitals, and greater demands of Berlin to act. But a pan-European response remains unforthcoming.
Putin’s Minsk maskirovka: Will the West ‘capitulate’?
Zelensky and EU leaders want the Normandy summit to show they are giving diplomacy a chance. But the risk all lies on their side, not Putin’s
Open Skies: Trump’s next big blunder?
Partisan argument in Washington is helping undermine the Open Skies Treaty. The US could lose one of the most useful instruments in its relations with Russia.
Managed chaos: Russia’s deal with Turkey on northern Syria
Russia is now in charge of a multi-front war. It will need to manage relations between multiple local actors very carefully.
The authoritarian entente: Sino-Russian security cooperation
Sino-Russian arrangements for deepening cooperation on surveillance technology codify a process that has been going on for years
Ukraine prisoner swap: A sign of hope or desperation?
The West is drawing the wrong lessons from Ukraine’s exchange of prisoners with Russia. It now risks rushing Kyiv into an unstable ‘resolution’ to the conflict in Donbas
Emmanuel Macron’s very big idea on Russia
Negotiations with Russia over a new European security order would have huge – to many, alarming – implications for Ukraine, the EU, and the NATO alliance
Occupational hazards: The Russian military in Crimea
While its current disposition in Crimea is mainly defensive in nature, Russia's military build-up on the peninsula could soon turn the Black Sea region into a security black hole.