Tag: ukraine war

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

Ukraine Peace Talks: Erdogan’s Chance To Cement Turkey As Key Power Broker

Photo of ​Erdogan speaking at the Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Istanbul
Erdogan speaking at the Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Istanbul Turkey government

After more than a month of fighting, a fresh round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine has begun in Istanbul in the hope that progress can be made. Following weeks of fruitless talks in Belarus, negotiations were hosted by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who made a short opening statement telling both sides: “The world is waiting for good news, and good news from you.” Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage. Sign up to our free daily newsletter. The very fact that talks have moved from Belarus, a key Russian ally, […]

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LGBTQ Plus Russia-Ukraine War

LGBTQ Ukrainians Taking Up Arms: We Have Even More To Fear From Putin

Photo of a man holding a drawing of Putin wearing make up against a rainbow background, as part of an anti Russian invasion protest in ​Teplice, Czech Republic, on March 4
Anti-Putin protest in Teplice, Czech Republic, on March 4 Ondrej Hajek/CTK/ZUMA

With his war against Ukraine, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is also waging a campaign against LGBTQ people. For him, they represent dangerous “pseudo-values” of the West. Despite the threat, many of them remain in Ukraine, and are fighting back.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Modi’s Response To Russian Invasion Is A New Low For Indian Diplomacy

Photo of Modi and Putin walking toward camera
Modi and Putin in New Delhi in December Press Information Bureau/Pib Pho/Planet Pix via ZUMA

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not called out Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, but not because he wants to help broker a peace. Rather he only has domestic concerns in mind.

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Economy Ideas

Let’s Not Be Naive: A French Take On War Profiteering

Photo of a shadowy silhouette outside a ​currency exchange office in Moscow on March 2.
At a currency exchange office in Moscow on March 2. Mikhail Metzel/TASS

French firms TotalEnergies and Renault announced they were, over time, suspending their activities and halting production in Russia after being widely criticized for their inaction since the invasion of Ukraine. But leaving Russia doesn’t have the same cost or the same consequences for all companies. And we should calculate in who will profit later.

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

Defenders Of Kyiv: Ukraine Troops Use Trench Warfare To Turn The Tide

Defenders Of Kyiv: Ukraine Troops Use Trench Warfare To Turn The Tide
In a trench shelter in eastern Ukraine in January 2022 Andriy Andriyenko/SOPA Images/ZUMA

In the initial days of the war, the 18-kilometer convoy of Russian tanks became a symbol of Putin’s attempt at a blitzkrieg. But now, the Russians have been stopped, and the Ukrainian forces are digging trenches to strengthen their position. Scenes from the daily struggle.

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Geopolitics Ideas

If The Pope Won’t Condemn Putin, He’ll Wind Up On The Wrong Side Of History

If The Pope Won't Condemn Putin, He'll Wind Up On The Wrong Side Of History
Pope Francis receiving the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in February 2020 Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori Portfolio via ZUMA

Pope Francis must make a hard choice that supersedes his eagerness to heal the rift between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, which is diluting his already tepid postures on the Russian war in Ukraine.

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Ideas

The Eternal Russian Art Of Isolation

The Eternal Russian Art Of Isolation
A woman crosses the deserted Red Square in Moscow during a COVID lockdown Sergei Bobylev/TASS/ZUMA

Like from a Pushkin tale, Soviet embargo, or even a COVID lockdown, Russia is at home when it is proudly or despondently cut off from the external world. And after a post-Soviet pause of opening up, here we are again, says Russian writer Yury Saprykin.

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In The News

Acclaimed Ukrainian Photographer Maks Levin Hasn’t Been Seen Since March 13

Close up portrait of a soldier taken by war photojournalist Maks Levin
Ukrainian troops Maks Levin

The veteran photojournalist was covering the Russian invasion north of Kyiv, after spending years chronicling Ukraine’s longstanding battles in its eastern regions against pro-Russian separatists.

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

What If Putin’s Invasion Of Ukraine Was Really A China-U.S. Proxy War

Photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a 2019 gala celebrating diplomatic relations between Russia and China

Putin may seem an irrational actor, but he is clearly staging a wider war against the West and the U.S. Even if Russia couldn’t survive an urban guerrilla battle in Ukraine, it has China’s silent support.

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

How To Rebuild The German Military — Europe’s Best Hope To Deter Putin

Photo of ​Bundeswehr soldiers training near a German tank in Munster, Germany
Bundeswehr soldiers training in Munster, Germany Philipp Schulze/dpa/ZUMA

Germany is the only country that can provide the necessary army forces to secure NATO’s eastern flank against Russia. Its army urgently needs targeted investment in tanks and personnel, as well as a new doctrine that examines all options without taboo, including a draft.

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Russia-Ukraine War

The Sergei Shoigu Enigma, ‘Last Man In The Bunker’ With Putin

Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu in Saint Petersburg, 2017
Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu in Saint Petersburg, 2017 Kremlin.ru

Gloom and uncertainty increasingly surround Putin as his would-be blitzkrieg of Ukraine stalls. The world wonders whether he’ll double down, or if could be betrayed by his entourage. Sergei Shoigu, the man running Russia’s military, is iron-clad loyal. He also hasn’t been seen in public in two weeks.

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Future Ideas Russia-Ukraine War

Butterfly Wings & Wheat: How The Ukraine War Could Spark Global Food Crises

Volunteers provide food at the railway station to internally displaced persons who fled the hostilities waged by Russian invaders in Mukachevo, Ukraine
Volunteers provide food at the Mukachevo, Ukraine railway station Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Ukrinform/ZUMA

In an interconnected world, we are faced again with the negative implications of the so-called “butterfly effect” when a localized conflict can have far-reaching consequences and trigger lasting crises. For our world’s broken food systems, the war in Ukraine should be a wake-up call.

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

The Cruelest Irony: This Is How Putin Is Saving The Russian Speakers Of Ukraine

an empty basketball field and destroyed buildings in Kharkiv, Ukraine
A bombed out school in Kharkiv, where most of the residents are Russian speakers. Lyaxander/TASS via ZUMA Press

From Kharkiv to Mariupol, the targets of some of the worst Russian attacks on civilians are largely Russian-speaking cities. It is the worst possible twist to Putin’s bogus claim that his war was to “de-nazify” and prevent “genocide” of Russian speakers.

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Economy Geopolitics

India’s Deal For Cheap Russian Oil Is Strategically Dubious And Morally Bankrupt

Photo of a man at a gas station in Ghaziabad, India.
At a gas station in Ghaziabad, India. Pradeep Gaur/SOPA Images/ZUMA

While the strategic issues are still being debated, the Indian government has dismissed the moral issue by concluding a cheap oil agreement with Russia. But are Indian consumers prepared to accept the true cost of discount Russian oil?

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Society

How The Russian Orthodox Church Is Backing Putin’s Holy Crusade

Photo of Russian President Valdimir ​Putin and Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in Moscow in November 2021
Putin and Patriarch Kirill in Moscow in November 2021 Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin Pool/Planet Pix/ZUMA

Patriarch Kirill I has offered Putin a religious justification for his invasion of Ukraine, while Pope Francis stands firmly with the Ukrainian people. The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church is a close ally of Putin’s, and has surprising links to the KGB.

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Russia-Ukraine War

From Lviv, Worrying New Signs That Belarus Is Set To Join The War

photo of tanks firing missiles in belarus
Joint military drills last month by Belarusian and Russian troops Russian Defense Ministry

After Minsk recalled all its embassy staff from Ukraine over the weekend, additional reports now show evidence around the northwest territory that Alexander Lukashenko may be ready to join Putin in the assault on the southern neighbor.

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Economy Ideas

Mother Russia v. Big Macs And iPhones? Why Sanctions Are Bound To Fail

Photo of people eating inside a McDonald's restaurant near Moscow's Red Square
Inside a McDonald's restaurant near Moscow's Red Square Vlad Karkov/SOPA ImagesZUMA

Western freedoms in Russia are only partially appealing, since historically, Russians never had them. Instead, the Russian people are patient, stoic and often irrationally devoted to their cruel motherland.

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Geopolitics Ideas

The U.S. Has Quietly Told Europe It Won’t Fight On Its Behalf Again

photo of american flag of beach and coastline
View above Normandy beaches on June 6, 2020 U.S. Air Force/ZUMA

It went largely unnoticed, but Washington’s refusal to let MiG fighter jets destined for the Ukrainians take off from their base in Germany is a clear message, according to a retired French general: Even if a NATO country is attacked, the U.S. will never send their soldiers to fight on our soil.

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Economy Geopolitics

How Sanctions Can Hit Even Harder: Guidance From A Russian In Kyiv

Photo of an anti-Ukraine war protest with a placard that reads "Ban Russia from Swift"
Europe still hasn't cut off Sberbank or Gazprombank from the SWIFT banking system. Sachelle Babbar/ZUMA

Europe’s addiction to Russian energy paid for the assault against Ukraine. And in spite of crippling sanctions, it is inadvertently continuing to fund the war by not cutting two major Russian banks from SWIFT.

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In The News

In Troubled Times, What People Want

In Troubled Times, What People Want

People don’t give a damn about Putin, NATO, Ukraine, communism, democracy, freedom, gas, oil, national sovereignty, ideals. They don’t give a damn about each and every word, thought or opinion. People are just afraid of war. People want to live. ____________________________ Learn more about Worldcrunch’s exclusive Dottoré! series here.

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Economy Geopolitics Ideas Russia-Ukraine War

Let’s Turn Frozen Russian Assets Into “Pre-Paid” War Reparations For Ukraine

a street in Kyiv damaged by a Russian shell.
Western states should declare that the secured Russian financial resources will be used for a reconstruction fund for Ukraine. Mohammad Javad Abjoushak/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire

The Kremlin is increasingly focused on the destruction of infrastructure in Ukraine. The government in Kyiv will be entitled to reparations. Russia should know now: the more it destroys in Ukraine, the less it will get back from its foreign billions.

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

Limits Of Martyrdom, Why Zelensky Should Lead Ukraine From Exile

photo of people passing by a Zelensky graffiti in Barcelona, Spain
Zelensky street art in Barcelona, Spain Matthias Oesterle/ZUMA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky seems ready to accept death on the battlefield — but he would be doing his people an even greater service if he fled Ukraine to establish a government-in-exile.

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Economy Geopolitics

Elite Exodus: Russians Escaping The War, And Its Consequences

Backlit photo of a woman wearing a COVID mask passing by a PRADA shop window at the GUM luxury department store in Moscow​
Shopping at the GUM luxury department store in Moscow Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

Estimates are that more than 200,000 people have already crossed Russian borders since Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine. It looks to be the start of a mass exodus of well-to-do and middle class Russians that could further decimate the economy.

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

Taiwan, Past And Future: Two Lessons For China From The Russia-Ukraine War

Photo of a man cycling past a store in Taipei, Taiwan
In Taipei, Taiwan Ceng Shou Yi/NurPhoto/ZUMA

China is already profiting from the West’s economic divorce from Russia. But its biggest interest may be to learn from Russia’s experience of invading a land it claims for itself.

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Geopolitics In The News

Lining Up To Fight, Lining Up To Flee: Ukraine, A Nation United In War

a soldier carrying a military backpack with the Ukrainian flag sewn to it watches a train arrive in Lviv station
Ukrainian soldiers catching a train in Lviv station Vincenzo Circosta/SOPA Images/ZUMA

It is not heroism that is creating the long lines to enlist in the country’s fight against Russia, nor is it the opposite that explains the refugees trying to get out alive. There is a single objective for both.

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In The News

Viktor Orbán, Putin’s Trojan Horse In Europe

Photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin whispering in Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a meeting in Budapest
Whispers between Russia's Putin and Hungary's Orban Xinhua/Attila Volgyi/ZUMA

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is trying to keep the EU and NATO happy without upsetting Vladimir Putin. The war in Ukraine has upped the stakes in Hungary, where tense elections are just a few weeks away.

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In The News

Oligarchs Au Revoir: Russia’s War Drifts On To The French Riviera

Oligarchs Au Revoir: Russia's War Drifts On To The French Riviera
A yacht at the Port Lympia in Nice François-Xavier Chamoulaud

The likely defection of Russian tourists this summer is clouding the prospects of tourism professionals in the South of France, whose activity is still recovering from the pandemic. An emblematic snapshot of the after-effects of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

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In The News

Why So Many Asian Countries Are Staying Neutral On Putin

A man takes a picture of the University of Santo Tomas Main Building where the flag of Ukraine is projected in Manila, Philippines
The University of Santo Tomas Main Building in Manila, Philippines lit up with the flag of Ukraine Basilio Sepe/ZUMA

Western countries want to isolate Russia on the world stage. But for many Asian countries, the war in Ukraine is distant geographically and economically, and represents an existential debate between dictatorships and democracies.

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Dottoré! War in Ukraine

Treatment For Putin, A Psychiatrist’s Advice

Photo of a hand holding medication with the white blue red colors of the Russian flag
"A better chance that the necessary treatment will be less painful for everyone." Towfiqu barbhuiya / Worldcrunch

Dear President Zelensky, I am a psychiatrist, not a politician — though when it comes to the madmen of battle (in the fields of health, fortunately), I have fought more than you. I would like to explain to you a fundamental aspect of my work: when it becomes necessary to convince a patient who refuses […]

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

‘Z’ Marks Moldova, Inside Putin’s Potential Next Target

'Z' Marks Moldova, Inside Putin's Potential Next Target
In Tiraspol, the de facto capital of the pro-Russian separatist republic of Transnistria Diego Herrera/SOPA Images/ZUMA

An exclusive visit inside Moldova’s breakaway pro-Russian republic of Transnistria, which many fear may be the gateway to the next war after Ukraine in the strategically important target.

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Russia-Ukraine War Society

Sofiia’s Story: An Escape From Kyiv, A Springtime Dream

Photo of ​Sofiia and her grandmother sleeping on a train on their journey out of Ukraine
Sofiia and her grandmother sleeping on a train on their journey out of Ukraine Anna Akage

This is how Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has looked to one 16-year-old high school senior from Kyiv, the daughter of Worldcrunch contributor Anna Akage.

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Geopolitics Ideas

China May Be Set To Turn Against Russia For Its Epic Miscalculation In Ukraine

China May Be Set To Turn Against Russia For Its Epic Miscalculation In Ukraine
Russian and Chinese ambassadors to the United Nations Lev Radin/Pacific Press via ZUMA

China did not expect a protracted and bloody war in Ukraine, which is causing global upheaval and thus major problems for Beijing’s interests. There are growing signs that the Chinese government’s policy of “strategic neutrality” is reaching its limit.

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In The News

Why Western Brands Are Dumping Russia So Quickly

photo of a man walking in front of Ikea store
Outside an Ikea store last week near Moscow Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS via ZUMA

More than 300 companies have announced plans to close stores, reassign staff or stop selling products in Russia since the Feb. 24 invasion. These decisions fit in with a recent trend of companies listening to customers, though the geopolitical factors are a new twist.

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Geopolitics Society

Zelensky, Global Icon: Memes, Magazine Covers And What It Really Means

Zelensky, Global Icon: Memes, Magazine Covers And What It Really Means
Volodymyr Zelensky in the streets of Kyiv with his government cabinet just after the start of the Russian invasion. Twitter/Defense of Ukraine

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has instantly become an international icon of courage in the fight for freedom. This sudden fame is as much a proof of how much is at stake in Ukraine as any one man’s power — and Zelensky is the first to know his limits.

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Geopolitics

Iran’s Take On Russia-Ukraine: Nuclear Arms Are Our Best Defense

IRGC launched missiles during a military exercise
IRGC launched missiles during a military exercise in three provinces around the Bushehr nuclear power plant Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)

While cheering the Russian attack on Ukraine, Iranian state media have also drawn the “lesson” from this war that a state can only be strong if it has a nuclear arsenal.

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Economy Geopolitics Ideas Russia-Ukraine War

Vladimir Putin’s Two Economic Bets

On March 2, 2022, the Russian rouble hit record lows.
Ruble exchange rates against the euro and the dollar. The Russian ruble hits record lows this week Mikhail Metzel/TASS via ZUMA Press

By deciding to invade Ukraine, the President of Russia did so believing that money would protect his country. By trying to prove him wrong, the West is facing its own potential crash.

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In The News

Why Middle East Countries Flipped, And Joined Push For Russia To Halt War

photo of putin leaning over to talk to saudi king salman
In a 2019 file photo, Putin meets in Riyadh with Riyadh, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Mikhail Metzel/TASS via ZUMA

Just two days after they’d signed an Arab League statement that did not condemn Russia and instead called for diplomacy, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined 138 other nations in a UN resolution demanding Russia halt its invasion of Ukraine.

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Russia-Ukraine War Society

Wroclaw Postcard: What We Learn About Ourselves In A Wartime Train Station

Wroclaw Postcard: What We Learn About Ourselves In A Wartime Train Station
A soldier giving food to a Ukrainian boy who arrived to the train station in Przemysl Attila Husejnow/SOPA Images/ZUMA

The war in Ukraine has prompted a huge outpouring of compassion across the border in Poland. It is a positive reflection of the human condition, but also a reminder that we should care for others and outsiders even when there’s no nearby conflict.

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Society

Meet The Russian VIPs Defying Putin To Say No To War

Meet The Russian VIPs Defying Putin To Say No To War
Miron Yanovich Fyodorov, aka Oxxxymiron, speaking out for peace

Russian pop starts, artists and athletes are speaking out against the war in Ukraine, with some already suffering the consequences.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Why A Rearmed Germany Is Exactly What The World Needs Now

Why A Rearmed Germany Is Exactly What The World Needs Now
Soldiers of the Bundeswehr's honor guard Omer Messinger/ZUMA

For decades, burdened by its history, Germany refused to face the harsh realities of foreign policy. Now, suddenly spurred by the Ukraine crisis, the German government is ready to once again show strength — long-awaited good news, for all.

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