At least as of now, it is becoming clear what Trump’s “energy truce” actually means. It means that both countries are supposed to refrain from striking oil-refining facilities—even though Ukraine has ...

In response to the question of what exactly Putin hopes to achieve four and a half years into the Russian-Ukrainian war, in a situation where his troops, who were supposed to capture at least the enti...

Meetings between the President of the United States and the leader of China are always treated with particular attention, even though for many years now practically nothing has happened at these meeti...

The President of the United States emphasized that he told the President of Ukraine to stop strikes on Russia’s oil-refining complex because, he claimed, they are causing diesel prices to rise.

This is the holding of a trilateral summit of Trump, Putin, and Xi Jinping

Srebrenica was the prelude to Bucha, and Sarajevo to Kharkiv — what Serbia teaches us about Russia

It seems that four and a half years of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine and 12 years of conflict between the two countries provide a clear answer to this question: no, Russia does not have the ...

When the front line stagnates and doesn't move even a kilometer for weeks, armies sooner or later turn to another target — not the enemy's trenches, but its cities.

Russia continues to exploit Ukraine’s shortage of missiles for Patriot batteries, which are needed to intercept ballistic missiles.

During one of his recent speeches, Putin claimed that the western regions of Ukraine were, as it turns out, a gift from Stalin — a man who, supposedly, never imagined that the Soviet Union would one d...

From the blog of Vitalii Portnikov at The Times of Israel

The arrival of the well-known American right-wing conservative blogger Laura Loomer to the Ukrainian capital was perceived by the Ukrainian authorities and covered by our media as if it were a visit b...

Yes, it turned out that two can play a war of survival.

Russia without money is a country one can deal with. Russia with money is a dangerous aggressor threatening humanity.

From the blog of Vitalii Portnikov at The Times of Israel

Lindsey Graham believed force was the language dictators understand — the new political class believes in nothing but elections

I have had to explain, more than once, that Putin thinks not in the categories of war and negotiations, but in those of the special operation — which is entirely logical given his chekist education an...

And assistance to Ukraine, therefore, is not simply money and hardware. It is the chance to survive when you have been marked for death.

What thirty years of Macedonia in the EU’s waiting room tells Ukraine about its own future

No one talks about the spirit of Anchorage anymore.

Why Russia keeps seizing land it can neither settle nor use

Sergei Ivanov became not merely the first to die among Putin’s closest associates. He was also the closest associate who utterly lost the apparatus struggle. A man who, at the turn of the millennium, ...

What sense does “the island of Crimea” make for Russia?

From the blog of Vitalii Portnikov at The Times of Israel

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used the anniversary of his American counterpart to congratulate him and discuss the upcoming meeting during the Group of Seven summit.

Why a quarrel over a military unit’s name plays only into Moscow’s hands

Abramovich has been an integral and important part of Putin’s system

What Poles and Ukrainians forget when they argue about history

June 7 may prove to be one of the most important days for the future of what remains of the post-Soviet space.

A Short Course in Russian History

Many explain the latest Russian attack on Kyiv and the Kyiv region as Putin’s desire to take revenge for the humiliation he felt during the preparations for the May 9 parade in Moscow.

The visit of Donald Trump to the Chinese capital and his negotiations with the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, have once again raised the question of how interested Beijing is...

Hungary’s future prime minister, Péter Magyar, set a condition even before taking office: unblocking Ukraine’s EU accession talks in exchange for expanding the rights of Ukrainian citizens of Hungaria...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s trip to Cyprus for an informal summit of European Union leaders was associated with an obvious victory.

Israel will be sorely disappointed if it expects better treatment from Russia for ignoring Ukraine’s claims about looted grain shipments

Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Azerbaijan and his meeting with Ilham Aliyev mark a new stage in the degradation of the post-Soviet space itself—and of Russian influence within it.

Among the many reactions to the collapse of Viktor Orbán and his party in Hungary’s parliamentary elections, one argument stands out: that Orbán cannot be a dictator—because otherwise he would not hav...

Amid the global security crisis in the Middle East, which effectively began on October 7, 2023, following the Iran and Hezbollah-supported Hamas attack on Israel, it is often heard - at least at demon...

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S.

After the delegation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation visited Washington, members of the U.S.

From the blog of Vitalii Portnikov at The Times of Israel

Following publications about the possibility of a "hybrid" Russian attack on Estonia or other Baltic countries, serious discussions have begun in both Ukraine and the West regarding the possibility of...

The war with Iran demonstrated a truth that is always understood only after the struggle begins: military actions are always practice, not theory.

From the blog of Vitalii Portnikov at The Times of Israel

A few days before the fourth anniversary of the start of Russia's major attack on Ukraine, an explosion occurred in the very center of Lviv, which law enforcement agencies classified as a terrorist ac...

In recent decades, illusion museums have become a true trademark of global tourism.

The Munich Conference, during which world leaders traditionally exchanged views about the future—and devoted a great deal of time to Russia’s war against Ukraine—took place literally just a few days b...

The President of the United States emphasized that he is giving the Russian and Ukrainian leaders four months to end the war – and if that does not happen, he will increase pressure on both Russia and...

The very fact of U.S.