Russia

This episode discusses the future of transatlantic relations and the evolution of security policy on both sides of the Atlantic. It examines France’s strategic stance and the implications of potential leadership change. It also looks at the dynamics of U.S. domestic politics – the role of political parties and civil society in curbing Donald Trump’s power, and the significance of the midterm elections. It considers what these processes mean for Europe, especially in the context of Article 5. Joining Marta Prochwicz-Jazowska, Deputy Head of the ECFR Warsaw office, in the discussion will be Thomas Gomart, director of the French Institute of International Relations, and Amanda Sloat, professor at the School of Politics, Economics, and Global Affairs at IE University.

Dimitri Minic, Scientific Director of the Observatory on Russia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia and a Research Fellow at Ifri’s Russia/Eurasia Center, argues in an interview with Le Monde that “Ukraine should not be buried too quickly,” even if the current balance of power favors Russia.

Three researchers at the French Institute of International Relations, Dimitri Minic, Tatiana Kastouéva-Jean and Paul Maurice, are urging Europe to intensify its power dynamic with Moscow. The French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) published a report on Tuesday, November 4, that highlights Europe's vulnerabilities in the event of a high-intensity conflict with Russia.

Vladimir Putin is eyeing the conflict between Israel and Iran as an opportunity to thrust himself to the forefront of the international stage, more than three years into his invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine faces growing diplomatic headwinds after its summer counter-offensive against Russia's forces faltered, with aid from vital backers in the United States and EU being increasingly called into question.

The conflict between Hamas and Israel is both an opportunity and a risk for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been mired in pressing his invasion of Ukraine for the past 19 months.

The conflict between Hamas and Israel is both an opportunity and a risk for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been mired in pressing his invasion of Ukraine for the past 19 months.

The conflict between Hamas and Israel is both an opportunity and a risk for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been mired in pressing his invasion of Ukraine for the past 19 months.

For this Russian army specialist, at least part of the armed forces rallying behind the founder of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, cannot be ruled out.

Kyiv expects new recruits to appear within two months but Moscow struggles with training and logistical obstacles.

In the Central African Republic (CAR), nine out of 10 people do not have internet, and only one in seven has electricity -- that is, when there are no power cuts.

Yet the CAR has just followed El Salvador in adopting bitcoin as legal tender, a currency that requires access to the net to be bought, sold or used.

As elections approach Sunday, the far-right candidate is linked to the Russian president by a web of financial ties and a history of support that has hardly dimmed despite the war in Ukraine.

Data on the concentration of Russian troops was solid; the diplomatic offensive executed by Moscow was deliberately disagreeable; yet, many experts (myself including) refused to accept the proposition on the coming war as “inevitable”.

Western powers appear unable to thwart Putin’s strategy to reassert Russian influence

Rarely in recent years has the Kremlin been so popular with European visitors. French President Emmanuel Macron arrives Monday. The Hungarian prime minister visited last week. And in days to come, the German chancellor will be there, too. All are hoping to get through to President Vladimir Putin, the man who singlehandedly shapes Russia’s course amid its military buildup near Ukraine and whose designs are a mystery even for his own narrow inner circle.

Since 1969, the return of a human mission to the Moon has never seemed so close. Although scientific interest continued to flourish, space programmes had for many decades abandoned it in favour of the International Space Station and missions to explore the solar system.

We ask experts whether the Kremlin’s latest moves on climate, including its 2060 net-zero target, heralds genuine change or more greenwash. 

Russia has been seen as a climate pariah by the international community for some years. It was one of the last counties to ratify the 2015 Paris Agreement – not until September 2019, at the UN’s Climate Action Summit.

Our main story this week is the treason case against Ilya Sachkov, the 35-year-old CEO of the cybersecurity firm Group-IB. On Wednesday morning, September 29, hours after officials raided the company’s Moscow office, a local court jailed Sachkov for the next two months, pending trial.

After the recent intensification of dialogue between official Kyiv and President Biden’s administration, in the wake of the rising threat to Ukraine posed by Russia and in anticipation of President Biden’s visit to the UK and EU, President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team began sharpening their rhetorical stance toward Ukraine’s Western partners.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece was written based on the experience of Kyiv Post staff writer Anna Myroniuk, a native of Donetsk, on a trip to Paris at the invitation of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which sponsored a visit by Ukrainian journalists in early February. In Paris, the reporters had a chance to speak with top-level decision-makers and hear their views on how to end Russia’s war in the Donbas.