Ukraine
Putin goes to Pyongyang: Should we be worried?
In Pyongyang last month Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a new strategic treaty with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.This was Putin’s first visit to Pyongyang in 24…
Pariah states and the Olympic Games
As the world eagerly anticipates the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the intersection of international politics and sport once again takes centre stage. The participation of so…
Putin in Asia: Setting a cat among the pigeons
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit last week to Pyongyang and Hanoi captured headlines around the world. But it was hardly unexpected – indeed, a logical step in Russia’s…
Zelenskyy put a spotlight on China’s Ukraine war problem: Defend Ukraine’s sovereignty, or Russian security?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise appearance last weekend at the annual Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, run by the International Institute for Strategic…
Time to recognise the Crimean Tatar genocide
Saturday 18 May marks the 80th anniversary of one of history’s least known but most traumatic genocides.Early that morning in 1944, Soviet internal security troops spread…
Ukraine gets the green light for strikes in Russia – it was long overdue
“We can repeat” is the slogan used every 9 May when Russians remember the Red Army’s victory in the Second World War. Elsewhere on the continent, Europeans promise “never again”…
All wars end. But how will the one in Ukraine?
It is 800 days since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine when I sit with Yevhen Hlibovytsky in a small café near the national public broadcaster in Kyiv. Australia’s Defence Minister…
The Kyrgyzstan route facilitating Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Kyrgyzstan’s trade figures defy economic logic, suggesting that a vast amount of its imports are bound for a third country – namely, Russia. Kyrgyzstan’s trans-shipment to Russia…
Russia conundrum in the Caucasus and beyond
A growing number of former Soviet republics, including Russia’s allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), are distancing themselves from the Kremlin. Moscow…
Why Russia has only now declared war on Ukraine
On 22 March, the Kremlin officially declared, two years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, that Russia is in a state of war. “Yes, it started as a special military operation…