The West’s previous failures may embolden Russia to use chemical weapons in Ukraine
The UK and US fear Moscow is preparing to violate a “red line”, just as its Syrian ally did last…
ByVladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin is the president of Russia and has been the country’s leader, with an interlude as prime minister, for more than 22 years. Putin was born in 1952, studied law at Leningrad State University and served for 15 years as a KGB officer before becoming a politician in 1991.
David Cameron’s naivety left Putin free to act as he pleased
The former prime minister assumed that he could separate Putin’s acts of aggression in eastern Europe from Russia and the…
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I saw Russia’s way of war in Syria. Will its devastation come to Kyiv?
All Ukrainians are wondering whether Putin will repeat the destruction here.
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What is Vladimir Putin’s way out in Ukraine?
The challenge for Ukraine and the West is to establish a peace process that encourages the Russian president to walk…
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“My flight out of Moscow was full of fleeing Russians”: Felix Light leaves Russia
The Moscow-based correspondent on his decision to depart the country amid war, media clampdown and rumours of martial law.
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How Russia descended into authoritarianism
As Putin cracks down on peaceful protest and free media, thousands are fleeing the country and a financial crash looms.
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The poisoned peacemaker: why China can’t abandon Putin
The history of Sino-Russian relations is long and complicated, but Xi Jinping is not ready to sacrifice his relationship with…
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Former Russian foreign minister: “It is mind-boggling what Putin is doing in Ukraine”
Andrei Kozyrev explains Vladimir Putin’s cruel rationality and the calculus of the war in Ukraine.
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Authoritarianism is the reason for Russia’s struggles in Ukraine
Only democracy provides the accurate feedback that strong political and economic systems depend on.
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John Mearsheimer and the dark origins of realism
Rage aimed at the eminent international relations scholar reflects liberal frustration over the West's limited power to prevent Russia's war…
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“Kyiv holds its breath”: Lyse Doucet’s diary from Ukraine
The streets of Ukraine are being either transformed into zones of defence or blasted into nothingness. History sits waiting.
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“Stop financing the aggressor”: Ukraine’s former finance minister Natalie Jaresko on how to stop Putin
Natalie Jaresko was called in to rescue Ukraine’s finances after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Now, she says Western…
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Putin’s war is in disarray
As the conflict in Ukraine drags on, will the minimal objective of surviving in power soon become the Russian president’s…
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Russia cracks down on protesters across the country
More than 12,000 people have been detained for protesting since Russia's invasion of Ukraine
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Putin through the looking-glass
The Russian president has created a phantom enemy in “fascist” Ukraine and bet everything on defeating it. How does this…
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Brace for Putin’s next move
After the battle for Ukraine, Russia’s foreign policy will be devoted to smashing by any means necessary the coalition that…
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Could the government really seize oligarchs’ houses?
Wealthy people with links to the Kremlin own swathes of luxurious London property, and Michael Gove is considering how to…
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Our addiction to oil has paid for Putin’s war
High oil prices and the West's failure to diversify its energy mix have bankrolled a tyrannical regime.
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Putin is running out of options
Regime change is now as likely in Moscow as it is in Kyiv.
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Dispatch from Kyiv: the madness of Putin’s war
In Ukraine's capital, the absurdity and tragedy of the conflict is everywhere.
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