Putin believes he is defending Orthodox Christianity from the godless West
By supporting the war, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has both normalised sinful behaviour and polluted Russian Christian identity.
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.
Caught between Putin and the West, Xi Jinping faces a crucial choice on Russia
To walk away from Beijing's relationship with Moscow, Xi would have to admit he had made a mistake – that…
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Xi Jinping could stop Putin’s war in Ukraine. Will he?
If China stands with Russia, Beijing risks being isolated as US influence in the non-Western world grows.
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Could Zelensky and Putin agree a Ukraine peace deal?
Ukraine believes any agreement on a lasting ceasefire would need to be made by the Russian president himself.
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Russia-Ukraine war: an invasion 30 years in the making
For Vladimir Putin, the fall of the Soviet Union was “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century”.
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How Global Britain props up Putin’s gangster state
Oliver Bullough’s Butler to the World shows how the UK’s enthusiasm for deregulation has made it a global haven for…
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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…
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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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