He doesnβt have the cards. He has the interceptors.
He doesnβt have the cards. He has the interceptors.
Excellent. "America needs a strategy in Iran, just as it needs one in the world." Gift link: www.economist.com/leaders/2026...
βIn an age of blood-soaked realpolitik, Europe stands out. Yes, it is meek, a vegetarian in a world of omnivorous geopolitical rivals. [But i]f it is a sin to think that rules matter, the world could do with a few more sinnersβ¦ the relative sanity found in Europe is a kind of defiance.β
No surprise there. I really hope that Ukraine can get something out of this for its own defence.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Pentagon eyes Ukrainian interceptor drones to counter Iran
Maybe just maybe the Ukrainian policy of reducing the number of their troops on the front line was the right one and the Russian one of slaughtering their own population the wrong one.
Thankfully the Ukrainians did not listen to the terrible western analytic community on this.
LLM prose is everywhere now. How did it happen so quickly? I think at some point we have to stop blaming the technology. new post
"European nations are snapping up Ukrainian front-line know-how, helping NATO militaries rewire themselves for a transformed battlefield that is dominated by drones and electronic warfare, and where even new weapons can become obsolete in a few months."
www.wsj.com/world/europe...
It is once again time for this joke:
Tired: extended deterrence
Wired: dissuasion Γ©largie
#closethesky :-)
A brief reprieve from the US-Israel-Iran war news to share some photos from Lviv, because the western Ukrainian city was absolutely glorious today, on this first day of spring. Signs point to the long, horrible winter and freezing cold being over. The Russian attacks, however, are likely to continue
πΊπ¦π« Ukraine greets the first day of spring β the season weβve been waiting for most after a long, cold, and one of the hardest winters in decades. Russia tried to leave us in the dark and freezing. We endured.
π· AFUkraine/Facebook, DSNS/Telegram, UkrzalInfo/Telegram,citykharkivua/Telegram
Journalists from The NYT interviewed more than ten Ukrainian women who suffered sexual violence during the Russian occupation. Some women say they became pregnant by Russian soldiers and now live with children who will forever remind them of their attackers.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/w...
The Trump admin has abandoned Ukraine. It hasn't actively put its lot with Ru's war effort. Does Rubio want to be congratulated for it? Or are they considering jumping in on Ru's side? Either way, the admin's Ukraine policy is shameful from a moral standpoint and the opposite of what Americans want.
Good to see that there is *finally* some movement on this!
βNeutral Ireland is seeking closer co-operation with the UK and other Nato countries to defend its vast maritime area as Russia intensifies its surveillance of vulnerable undersea cables that criss-cross Irish waters.β
Today marks four years since Russia invaded Ukraine. These are some thoughts (recorded yesterday) on what Ukrainians have done for all of us and what we can learn from them.
Today marks four years since Russiaβs full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Over a thousand days of fighting, six million refugees abroad, and tens of thousands killed.
We honor those who gave their lives, thank those who fight on, and continue to believe in victory.
Glory to Ukraine.
Putin has failed on a monumental scale in Ukraine. For four years heβs been dependent for survival on a war he started but which Russia cannot win. In the process, heβs turned Russia β which he desperately wants to be a great power - into the dependent of an actual great power.
Today, people are rightly focusing on Ukraine. But itβs also worth taking a moment to think about the monumental stupidity and failure of Putin and his subordinates, who started the longest, most destructive European war since WW2 even though there was no threat to Russia. π§΅
I wrote for @ukandeu.bsky.social on the end of the US-Europe alliance.
On the eve of the 4th anniversary of Russiaβs full-scale invasion, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told @financialtimes.com Russia and Ukraine are at the βbeginning of the endβ of Europeβs biggest war since WWII, but urged Trump to see through Putinβs negotiating βgamesβ.
Free link: as.ft.com/r/9b99f21a-e...
And now, Foreign Policy have kindly made this short piece available without a paywall - foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/23/r...
A reminder that Europe has plenty of cards...Geostrategic Europe Taskforce report at www.geostrategic-europe.org/publications...
Tomorrow everyone will be asking: when will the Russo-Ukrainian war end? The right question is: what can we do to make the Russian invasion fail?
US & UK volunteers joined the International Legion to fight for Ukraine & democracy. Read their gripping accounts in βTo Die With Such Menβ by @shannonmonaghan.bsky.social
βExplores in bloody detailβ¦ what itβs really like to volunteer on Ukraineβs front line.β @thetimes.com
tinyurl.com/bdhkjdd6
It turns out that Europe's greatest strategic problem (and this includes France) is that De Gaulle was right, but no one really listened to him.
Your regular reminder that anyone who pushes "let's give Donbas to Russia to end the war" as a solution is either ignorant or pro-Russian. Donbas is not a "disputed" nor a special region and therefore its occupation by Ru doesn't solve anything at all. Ru wants all of Ukraine.
"In the Great Patriotic War, from June 1941 to May 1945, the Red Army advanced 1,600km from Moscow to Berlin. In this longer war, Russian forces in Donetsk, the main focus, have advanced just 60kmβthe distance from Washington to Baltimore." www.economist.com/leaders/2026...
βIt can seem that the world watches Russiaβs war on Ukraine as if it were a film. When attention wanes, there is a demand for an ending β if not good, then bad. For Ukrainians, this is not cinema but reality. It will last as long as it lastsβ β Nataliya Gumenyuk. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/o...
"The border guards say February 24th taught them a lesson: the only security guarantee worth anything is your own guns. βGod forbid you ever face what we did,β says Koshyk. βBut if you do, remember itβs on you [...] Because no one else will do it for you.β www.economist.com/europe/2026/...