The war between Russia and Ukraine has entered its second year and there is no end in sight. Earlier this month, in a concerning escalation, Russia announced that it plans to hold drills simulating the use of tactical nuclear weapons along the border with Ukraine. Earlier in March, Russia had said that it would station nuclear weapons in Belarus. Such nuclear posturing in the middle of a war is worrying.
On April 4, speaking at a NATO Summit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that “Ukraine will become a member of NATO. Our purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership.” This is an exceedingly dangerous statement.This latest statement continues the trend of making promises to Ukraine that it may one day become a member of NATO without offering a concrete timeline. This is the worst of all possible worlds: such implicit promises provoke Russia, which has stated on multiple occasions that the prospect of NATO membership for Ukraine is a red line, while doing nothing to enhance Ukraine’s security.
Its Security Depends on Long-Term Commitments From the West
The U.S. Congress’s approval last month of a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine came not a minute too soon. Ammunition shortages resulting from Washington’s months-long dysfunction have eroded Ukrainian frontline positions and left cities and critical infrastructure exposed to missile and drone barrages. Top military and intelligence officials in Kyiv have advised Ukrainians to brace for territorial setbacks in the coming months. Already, the Russian military has stepped up pressure on Kharkiv, forcing thousands of Ukrainians to flee out of fear that Russian forces could soon reoccupy their towns.
Ukrainian lands are located at the gates of Europe and since ancient times foes have been threatening its inhabitants, not all but most of the times from the East. However, the very first statehood was brought to Kyiv from the North, by means of rivers and Vikings, and over the 10th and 11th centuries it was the largest and the most powerful state in Europe.
L’attaque contre le Premier ministre slovaque, Robert Fico, rappelle étrangement l’assassinat de Lee Harvey Oswald et le rôle du réseau Gladio opérant sur le sol européen, et de nouvelles attaques sur le territoire européen ne peuvent être exclues avec l’objectif sans équivoque de semer le chaos à travers le continent. C’est la «stratégie de tension» pour, finalement, provoquer l’implication directe de l’OTAN dans un conflit généralisé avec la Russie.
A Bosnian Serb former martial arts fighter has been posting videos and pictures online, documenting his new life as a volunteer soldier with a Russian unit fighting in Ukraine. BIRN was able to track his posts, following his journey to the frontline.
A Bosnian Serb former martial arts fighter has been posting videos and pictures online, documenting his new life as a volunteer soldier with a Russian unit fighting in Ukraine. BIRN was able to track his posts, following his journey to the frontline.
De nombreux citoyens ordinaires du monde entier, y compris aux États-Unis et en Europe, se joignent à la Russie pour honorer comme il se doit le jour de la Victoire.
L’historien russe Roman Shumov a bien saisi la signification sublime du jour de la Victoire. Il a écrit cette semaine : «Pour les Russes, le 9 mai n’est pas seulement la célébration d’un triomphe militaire, c’est la célébration de la victoire sur la mort».
Gaza, Ukraine, and the Breakdown of International Law
Hamas’s attack on Israel and Israel’s response to it have been a disaster for civilians. In its October 7 massacre, Hamas sought out unarmed Israeli civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, killing close to 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages. Israel’s subsequent air and ground campaign in Gaza has, as of March 2024, killed more than 30,000 people, an estimated two-thirds of whom were women and children. The Israeli offensive has also displaced some two million people (more than 85 percent of the population of Gaza), left more than a million people at risk of starvation, and damaged or destroyed some 150,000 civilian buildings. Today, there is no functional hospital left in northern Gaza. Hamas, Israel maintains, uses civilian structures as shields, operating in them or in tunnels beneath them—perhaps precisely because such buildings have been considered off-limits for military operations under international law.
Paix dictée ou paix négociée en Ukraine ?
Le 28 avril dernier Jens Stoltenberg, secrétaire général de l’OTAN en visite à Kiev, a rassuré formellement Volodymyr Zelensky que la guerre contre la Russie pouvait être encore gagnée par l’Ukraine et il a réaffirmé : «La Russie doit bien le comprendre. Elle ne pourra pas gagner. Elle ne pourra pas nous avoir à l’usure !»