There should be a Christmas truce/ceasefire (Orthodox Christmas or western doesn’t matter) in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Last Western AND Orthodox Christmas, there was discussion of the possibility of a truce or ceasefire over one of the Christmases. The precedent quoted was of course, the spontaneous ceasefire that took place over December 1914, Continue reading »
Ukraine / Russia
Some stand to benefit from the deluge of fake news from the war, while others could pay dearly. On Nov. 21, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, answered her mobile phone during a press briefing. The microphone picked up the person on the other end saying, “Be sure not to say anything about Continue reading »
The leading expert on Russia says Trump’s bold claim to end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours is highly unlikely to materialise, and only a just peace can lead to lasting peace. Below is a brief analysis by Feng Yujun, a leading Chinese expert on Russia, published in 海外看世界 Global China on November 12. Global Continue reading »
Up to 50,000 Māori mobilised and walked to the New Zealand Parliament in Wellington to to protest the treaty principles bill, which Amnesty International states should never have been introduced. Bob Carr states what he told us last week about AUKUS is now confirmed. A member of Knesset is forcibly removed for speaking out against Continue reading »
‘Joe Biden allows Ukraine to use long-range US-supplied ATACMS missiles on targets in Russia, prompting threat of world war’ – so runs the ABC headline of 18 November. Serious stuff, not to be lightly discounted, and yet perhaps what we are seeing is primarily performative politics, viewed through the smoke of uncertainty and reflected in Continue reading »
In this exclusive interview with Alexey Pavlovsky, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Australia since 2019, he shares his insights on the complex dynamics between Russia, Ukraine, and the West, as well as his reflections on Australia’s stance in the ongoing conflict. You have been Ambassador to Australia since 2019. What interested you about Continue reading »
At the beginning of World War I, when the British Expeditionary Force in France was being battered by the advancing German army there was great anxiety in Britain. Then the Russians magically came to the rescue. …a ‘Great Rumour’ spread across the United Kingdom that Russian troops had landed in Scotland on their way to Continue reading »
Vladimir Putin rarely uses English in his speeches. So if in his speech to the recent BRICS meeting in Kazan he insisted the reason for Russia’s 2022 attack on Ukraine was that he was duped (he pronounced it ‘dooped’) by Germany and France in the 2014-5 Minsk Accords then he probably meant it. The Accords Continue reading »
One zombie thesis about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that keeps resurfacing is the idea that it was provoked by NATO expansion. It doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Eugene Doyle reprises this idea, leaning on the views of one ex-CIA analyst, George Beebe. Beebe claimed in 2021 “that Russia was likely to invade Ukraine given the Continue reading »
Earlier this week I pointed to a Ukrainian (South Korean, U.S.) propaganda campaign which claims that thousands of North Korean soldiers will soon fight with on the Russian side against Ukraine: To have North Koreans fighting in Russia against the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk would make little sense. That incursion is for one already mostly defeated.Besides Continue reading »