All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Thursday marked the beginning of a new era in European politics. Nowhere has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine been met with greater fear and trepidation than in central and eastern Europe, a region all too familiar with ‘brotherly help’ in the form of military occupation by a looming eastern power. It may be a new era
‘The Russian invasion marks a turning point,’ said Olaf Scholz on Saturday as he announced that Germany would break its long-standing principle of not sending arms into conflict zones by delivering 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles to Ukraine. ‘It is our duty to support Ukraine to the best of our ability,’ he explained.
Russia’s invasion is not just an effort to retake what was once part of the Soviet Union. It is a push to use military force to overturn the post-Cold War settlement. In fact, the invasion cannot be understood without first understanding what that settlement looked like and why Russia wants to overturn it, despite the
When I was a little girl, my mum told me that I shouldn’t use the word ‘woman’ – but rather ‘lady.’ ‘Woman’ was just too visceral to her, whereas a ‘lady’ might well be a doll. But by adolescence my shoplifted copy of The Female Eunuch and Helen Reddy bawling ‘I am strong, I am
The word ‘Chernobyl’ sends a shiver down the spine of most Europeans, and with good reason: it was the site of the world’s worst nuclear catastrophe. Now it has been seized by Russian forces in their ongoing invasion of Ukraine. So what is Putin up to? And does the world need to worry? The simple answer is
With every hour that Kiev holds out, the geopolitics of Europe changes more. Germany, which so values its prohibition on sending weapons into warzones, has just announced that it is sending 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles to support the Ukrainian forces. I expect that defence spending will rise considerably in the coming years
If Russia is expelled from the Swift banking messaging system, that would be serious economic warfare against Putin. Because Thursday’s decision by the US Treasury to make it almost impossible for Russia’s two biggest banks, VTB and Sperbank, to do any business with US institutions or use US infrastructure to process dollar payments will potentially
In times of war and strife it’s only natural to feel anxious and worried. It’s a normal, primal reaction. What’s not normal, however, is to conspicuously advertise that fact, and to use a calamity to let the world know what a deeply concerned and conspicuously compassionate person you are. Not for the first time in
I come today with an appeal to all citizens of Russia. Not as President. I am appealing to the people of Russia as a citizen of Ukraine. We share more than 2,000km of border. Around it, today, is your army: almost 200,000 soldiers; thousands of military units. Your leadership has approved their movement towards us.
Tom Ford, the stratospherically successful fashion designer has recently released lipstick shades called ‘Age of Consent’ and ‘First Time’. He also produced a perfume called ‘Lost Cherry’. There has been a bit of an uproar by some feminists who think it appalling to make references to sex with underage girls as a marketing ploy. Known for coming
In his hour-long speech earlier this week setting out why he was invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin blamed Vladimir Lenin, the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukrainian nationalists and the West for starting the conflict. Meanwhile, many in the West believe that the conflict is entirely the creation of one man, Putin himself. It’s worth though remembering
A few hours after Vladimir Putin sent his tanks into Ukraine, Beijing announced that Russian wheat, previously barred because of fungal contamination, was now disease-free and large scale imports to China would begin. It was a first tangible sign of Xi Jinping’s willingness to cushion the blow of western sanctions on the Russian economy, and
In his novel The Loyal Subject, which appeared on the eve of the first world war, Heinrich Mann, the brother of Thomas, satirised Wilhelmine Germany as a hotbed of chauvinistic nationalism. The servile nationalism that Mann mocked could not be further from the ethos of the Federal Republic of Germany today. So pervasive is Germany’s
‘Live long enough and you watch everyone go mad,’ the man said to me gloomily. It was around 2009, and I was listening to a former senior civil servant tell me what he had learned from a life spent in diplomacy. I’m not sure even he envisioned seeing proper madness in a world leader until
I assume that Vladimir Putin will now rapidly withdraw his forces from Ukraine given the recent interventions of Holly Willoughby, Peter Andre and – perhaps most tellingly of all – Kerry Katona. Still more pressure has been brought to bear on the beleaguered President as Sean Penn has arrived in Ukraine to film a no-doubt
Putin’s forces are currently steamrolling Ukraine’s defences, with Russian troops circling the capital and invading from the south and east of the country. Meanwhile European leaders, neutered by their military weakness, have been unable to do little more than offer pointless sanctions and statements of solidarity. As Russian troops streamed across the border, European Commission
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Katy Balls speaks to Kate Andrews and Tony Danker, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), about the Chancellor’s Mais lecture on Thursday, where he reaffirmed his belief in ‘sustainably’ cutting taxes.
As the Prime Minister and his government urge caution to companies over Russian engagement, will party figures be considering their own business affairs? With CCHQ coming under pressure over Russian donations in the past, Mr S couldn’t help but recall that Ben Elliot’s Quintessentially firm has a long history with Russia and high net worth
One of the reasons why I judged — wrongly — that Vladimir Putin would not order an all-out invasion of Ukraine was the likelihood of a protracted war. But another was the possibility of popular protest in Russia, which could have potentially destabilising effects on the Kremlin. After sporadic protests in the hours immediately after the
It is bordering on tasteless amidst the horror of war in Europe to question the political impact of the conflict on the first round of the French presidential election in 44 days. But it’s naïve to imagine that such thoughts are not occurring to the politicians themselves, not least Emmanuel Macron. As I write this
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Russian forces are attempting to take Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, said he would be spending the day trying to convince European allies like Germany and Italy, who are reluctant to put too harsh sanctions on Russia, to ban them from the Swift payments system. How else can the West
Public life in Britain has taken a dark turn over the past 48 hours. Russia’s outrageous invasion of Ukraine has caused some people to lose their minds. War hysteria is everywhere. Jingoism is surging. Russophobia itself threatens to take hold in polite society. I can’t be the only person who feels deeply uncomfortable with the
Both the British and the Americans have been explicit that it is the Europeans who are blocking Russia being cut from Swift. Removing Russia would be a sound step, but it is far less important than a western agreement not to buy Russian oil and gas would be. Sadly, though, there is little chance of
Sanctions hit both sides: this is a point that Joe Biden has made to Americans and Olaf Scholz is making to Germans. But Boris Johnson is not (so far) talking about the economic implications of this war. They will be — and in fact, already are — profound. When Russian tanks moved into Ukraine, the price
Labour has been trying to make political capital out of Russian-linked donations to the Tory party. Sir Keir Starmer might play the cross-party card in the House but not all on his benches share that sense of magnanimity. Liam Byrne enjoyed taking a pop at Boris Johnson’s socialising with oligarchs yesterday while Rachel Reeves and
You may never have heard of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications — or at least not by its full name. Even if you had you may have mistaken it for a fairly inconsequential trade body that holds rather dull conferences in hotel function rooms in places like Frankfurt. Yet it finds itself at
Amid all the gloom, a sliver of light has emerged from the rubble of Ukraine. As Sun-Tzu said: ‘In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity’ – and some have certainly taken the opportunity to heap ridicule on themselves. Steerpike has cast his eye over the most ridiculous, self-involved and outlandish takes on Russia’s invasion as
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace may be right that Russian troops have not succeeded in all their immediate objectives, that they are demoralised and have been incompetent, and have suffered heavy losses. But the idea Putin is failing miserably – as Wallace claims – won’t be compelling to those who spent the night in Kiev’s metro
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Freddy Gray talks to Jacob Heilbrunn, the editor of The National Interest, about Vladimir Putin’s military action.
What do Russians make of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine? The violence has been condemned around the world, and it seems that thousands of Russians who have taken to the streets on anti-war protests agree that Putin has gone too far. But some Russians continue to support their president, in spite of suggestions from abroad that he
The Chief of the German Army is angry. Alfons Mais’s words were coloured by evident frustration when he said that the Bundeswehr had been ‘caught with its pants down’ in the current crisis in Ukraine: ‘The options we can offer politicians to support the alliance are extremely limited’ Such outspoken political criticism is rare from
The Ukrainian word ‘Holodomor’ meaning ‘death by hunger’ is not as well known in the West as the word ‘Holocaust’, but it should be. In 1933, a decade before the Nazis began to deliberately murder some six million European Jews, Stalin’s Soviet regime starved to death – equally deliberately – some four million men, women