The newly elected president of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel is an unusual European politician. He is the second president in his country with a military background but the first without political experience. He never saw combat duty and is an arm chair military strategist but lionised as a “senior NATO leader” — whatever that …
Russia’s Ukraine offensive in suspended animation
In a clandestine visit to Kiev, US President Joe Biden (C) met Ukrainian president Zelensky and his wife Olena, Feb. 20, 2023 The general expectation that the first anniversary of Russia’s special military operations in Ukraine would mark the commencement of a big military offensive has been belied, going by the speeches by President Vladimir …
Continue reading “Russia’s Ukraine offensive in suspended animation”
Waiting for Biden’s definition of victory in Ukraine
A Ukrainian soldier adds wood to a fire to stave off the bitter cold, Bakhmut, Donbass (File photo) There was an air of magical realism in the daylong visit to Kiev last Friday by the EU’s policy commissioners comprising the executive branch of the group — the so-called College — led by the European Commission …
Continue reading “Waiting for Biden’s definition of victory in Ukraine”
US climbs escalation ladder in Ukraine
Building hit by 6 US-made HIMARS missiles on New Year Day killing at least 89 Russian conscripts, Makeyevka, Ukraine In all probability, the message conveyed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov from his American counterpart Antony Blinken via Israel’s new foreign minister Eli Cohen concerned the Ukrainian missile attack on Makeyevka (Donetsk) on New Year …
Conflict in Ukraine is doomed to escalate
Defining moment in the Battle of Donbass, as the 4-month long defiant Ukrainian resistance to the Russian offensive is ending The meet-up location of NATO foreign ministers on November 29-30— Bucharest — was where ten years ago, former US President George W. Bush persuaded America’s transatlantic partners that Ukraine and Georgia should one day join …
Continue reading “Conflict in Ukraine is doomed to escalate”
Biden nods to compromise in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Centre) with leaders of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhya at the ceremony annexing the four regions as part of Russian Federation, Moscow, Sept. 30, 2022 The midterm elections in the US witnessed razor-thin races as Senate and House control hangs in the balance. But that didn’t discourage President Biden from holding a press …
A Biden-Putin meeting in Bali cannot be ruled out
The US President Joe Biden said in a CNN interview recently that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “rational actor who has miscalculated significantly” on Ukraine issue. The Russian-American summit meetings have a history of calibrated foreplay. As the G20 summit in Bali on November 15-16 draws closer, the big question is still hanging in the …
Continue reading “A Biden-Putin meeting in Bali cannot be ruled out”
Who’s afraid of US troops in Ukraine?
Very innocuously, the Biden Administration has ‘sensitised’ the world opinion that American troops are indeed present on Ukrainian soil in Russia’s immediate neighbourhood. Washington made a “soft landing” with an unnamed senior Pentagon official making the disclosure to the Associated Press and the Washington Post. The official gave an ingenious explanation that the US troops …
US breaks ice, Russia thaws
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace paid a secretive trip to US last week amid fears of a major Russian offensive in Ukraine Fall ends and winter starts at the moment of the December solstice. But what if the Vernal Equinox arrives instead? In these times of climate change, anything is possible. There are subtle signs. …
Ukraine war of attrition at inflection point
Two Russian soldiers patrolling in Kherson, south Ukraine The great beauty about the war of attrition is that the military strategy of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy may not necessarily achieve the intended strategic success. Worse still, it may remain inconclusive and it becomes difficult to distinguish between the …
Continue reading “Ukraine war of attrition at inflection point”