Worldcrunch
It has taken months for Ukraine to be able to celebrate the U.S. approval of a much-needed aid package. Now that the House of Representatives has voted in favour, what is crucial is the timing of the arms delivery. Because the aid package comes late, but hopefully not too late for Ukraine to reverse its losses on the battlefield, writes Pierre Haski for France Inter.
As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, results of a survey suggest that only one European out of ten thinks that Ukraine will come out of this war with a victory. While their support has not shifted towards Russia, the poll results give an insight into how fatigue is playing in citizens’ minds — and what European governments have to put up with if they want to continue supporting an expensive war.
Vibrations originating at one point on the globe rapidly extend to its farthest corners due to the effects of globalization and information connectivity. Having repelled Moscow’s war, Ukraine symbolizes the significant shifts in the global balance of power and influence.
With the rejection of the aid plan for Ukraine, Eastern Europe fears that Trump’s isolationist policy will mark the end of U.S. protection from the Putin regime. News from Ukraine of President Volodymyr Zelensky replacing his head of armed forces, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, together with the difficult situation on the battlefield, are generating a lot of tension in Ukraine — and in the wider Europe.
Even as questions swirl about whether Zelensky will replace Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, the bigger question is Ukraine’s strategy. Rather than liberating occupied territories, Ukrainian forces should be focused on destroying the Russian army. Or put another way: “It is not the big that eat the small, but the fast that eat the slow.”
January 29 – February 4, 2024
The leaders of key EU countries have been on the phone with Vladimir Putin since the war in Ukraine began. Weighing the costs, benefits…and morals…of leaving the door open to a man who brutally invaded a sovereign nation — and taking Munich 1938 as a starting point.
The West is a spent force, say China, Russia and their global clique, yet it retains plenty of decisive cards including a choice to back Ukraine to the hilt. The year may yet reveal the world’s rising, and ranking, powers.
From Orban to Zelensky to Bolsonaro, the list of those who did and didn’t travel to Argentina says much about the new president, and the current state of the world.
Tensions keep brewing between Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, and his military chief, Valerii Zaluzhny. Coming at a critical point in the war’s deadlock, the disputes risk undermining Ukrainian unity and playing into Russia’s hands.
The escalation of war in the Middle East and the stagnation of the Ukrainian counteroffensive have left many leaders in the West, who once supported Ukraine unequivocally, to look toward ceasefire talks with Russia. For Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Piotr Andrusieczko argues that Ukraine simply cannot afford this.
After the postponement of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s planned trip to Israel, there are voices now saying it should be cancelled outright. What’s the price of Ukraine publicly declaring its support for the current actions of the Israeli government and military?
The recent Polish parliamentary elections have ushered in a significant shift in the country’s political landscape, which includes promising outlook for its neighbor Ukraine that could be essential in shoring up support across Europe as the war with Russia heads into its third winter. But Kyiv shouldn’t take the amity of Donald Tusk and his centrist coalition for granted.
Europe’s foreign ministers traveled together to Kyiv yesterday to reaffirm their support for Ukraine. It is necessary after the first signs of “fatigue” in Western support, from a Polish about-face to the victory of a pro-Russian prime minister in Slovakia.
Poland has taken President Zelensky’s criticism at the UN very badly, and has decided to not supply new arms to Ukraine. One man in the Kremlin couldn’t be more pleased.
September 18 – September 24, 2023
The war in Ukraine continues, and the death toll shows no signs of slowing down. This is prompting some to call for a rush to the negotiating table. This would mean strengthening Russia and, worst of all, abandoning Ukraine and our values.
Four of the five presidents who have led Ukraine since its independence from the Soviet Union are alive. As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues, a look at what they have (or haven’t) done.
Slovakia, which shares a border with Ukraine, saw liberal President Zuzana Čaputová’s confirmation that she will not seek re-election, in part because of threats against her tough stance on Russia’s invasion. How will the war shape the future direction of Slovakian politics, and vice-versa?
Ukraine is warning about a possible terrorist attack on the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which Moscow’s military has occupied since the early days of the invasion. The U.S. Senate warns that, in that case, NATO is ready to enter the war.
After months of anticipation, expectations were impossibly high when Ukrainian forces finally launched a counteroffensive into Russian-occupied territory. But those expecting a lightning advance, like last year’s liberation of Kharkiv, overlooked one critical fact: the war is nearly 10 years old.
The destruction of the hydroelectric dam has caused massive flooding and is forcing mass evacuations. And while the disaster is threatening local populations, it is also bound to alter the course of the war — in more ways than one.
Putin is hesitant to mobilize troops for political reasons. And the Ukrainian military command is well aware that the key to a successful offensive lies in creating new front lines, where Russia will have to relocate troops from Ukraine and thus weaken the existing front.
The Ukrainian and Russian presidents made separate visits to the frontline recently, in closer physical proximity than anytime since the war began. It was a sign that we should not expect negotiations anytime soon.
Even if Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky were willing to find a compromise on territory, their respective constitutions explicitly forbid signing off on such a deal.
With a decisive deal with Putin out of the question, the only way to create a lasting peace is to recreate some fundamental dynamics of the Cold War.
Vladimir Putin thought the West would wind up divided over the backing of Ukraine. Yet a year later with new survey numbers out, and more aid flowing to Kyiv, this appears to be one of the most crucial errors in launching his invasion.
On the eve of Vladimir Putin’s invasion, Volodymyr Zelensky was not a particularly popular figure in Ukraine. In the year since, he has achieved virtually universal support at home, and hero status abroad. What will the onetime anti-corruption crusader do with this political capital?
One year after the Russian invasion, Kyiv has become an international symbol of resistance, also in the way that ordinary life continues, despite air raids and bomb blasts.
From the first fake news reports that Zelensky had fled to Putin’s latest speech Tuesday that blamed the war on the West, Russia’s attempts to manipulate opinion have wound up leaving Moscow itself as the prime victim of its own lies.
In the inevitable race for symbolic victories on the eve of the Ukraine invasion’s first anniversary, Joe Biden scored a major victory with his surprise visit to Kyiv. Meanwhile, one year on, Vladimir Putin has yet to visit his own country’s troops on the front line.
Latest reports show that Russia is stepping up its operations in eastern Ukraine, with a major offensive looking to be imminent. But international military strategists and tactical experts think that instead of sealing Kyiv’s fate, this rushed assault could precipitate the demise of Vladimir Putin and his war.
The next months will be decisive in the war between Moscow and Kyiv. From the forests of Polesia to Chernihiv and the Black Sea, Ukraine is looking to protect the areas that may soon be the theater of Moscow’s announced offensive. Will this be the last Russian Spring?
Russia is increasingly concerned about security from the sky: air defense systems have been installed on rooftops in Moscow’s government quarter. Systems have also appeared in several other places in Russia, including near Vladimir Putin’s lakeside home in Valdai. What is the Kremlin really worried about?
Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky was killed Wednesday in a helicopter crash. The cause is still unknown, but the high-profile victim could just have well been President Zelensky instead. It raises the question of whether there are indispensable figures on either side in a war of this nature?
Will 2023 be the year of victory? A negotiated settlement? The beginning of the new year was a time for speeches in Kyiv and Moscow aimed at inspiring the respective nations 10 months since Russia’s bloody invasion. Yet, for one good reason, certain words were not spoken.
The reconquest of Kherson seemed like a turning point in the Ukraine war. But while Kyiv and the West can see it as an encouraging sign for the long-term fate of the war, it makes negotiations a veritable non-starter now. A cold, hard analysis from French geopolitical expert Dominique Moïsi.
Kremlin war aims in Ukraine have never been entirely clear. Part of that is due to the setbacks the Russian army has suffered; and now it appears that both the strategic and symbolic objective of reducing the capital of Kyiv to its knees is again very much on Vladimir Putin’s mind.
November 12-13 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ What do you remember from the news this week? 1. What did actor and activist Sean Penn “loan” to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as they met in Kyiv? 2. Which Latin American dictator was seen shaking hands with U.S. envoy John Kerry and French President Emmanuel Macron at […]
Since the beginning of the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has held the world’s attention with his powerful speeches. His rhetoric works because he reveals the power of remaining human in inhumane conditions.