Who ate all the Minsk pies?

Donald Trump and the NATO summit, a BRICS day out in Rio, and Russia's falling out with Azerbaijan.

In the wake of US strikes on Iran's nuclear programme, Vice President JD Vance gets carried away.

Will the US join Israel's attacks on Iran? Probably. Is there a legal case for the strikes? Probably not.

This could get a lot worse, quickly.

A round up of a week I missed: Operation Spider's Web, the UK Strategic Defence Review, and US meddling in European affairs.

Friedrich Merz is getting himself in a twist over Ukraine's wish for Germany's long-range cruise missiles.

A shortage of potatoes in Belarus is leaving people disgruntled.

The erosion of America's soft power under President Donald Trump.

Following Trump and Zelenskyy's meeting in St Peter's Basilica, can we expect quick progress on peace talks?

America hits the self-destruct button. Is there a fail-safe?

Donald Trump is 'pissed off' with Vladimir Putin. Is a change of tone coming? Or not?

Yale historian Timothy Snyder seeks to 'rescue' the word 'freedom' from its 'overuse and abuse' in the US.

A social media influencer interviewed Lukashenka. It was not pretty.

Putin asks, Putin gets.

Ukraine agreed to plans for a 30-day ceasefire. Vladimir Putin demurred. How can we understand Putin's position?

Will Trump's personal ambitions clash with the architects of US strategy? Is that strategy founded on good premises?

Trying to make sense of the slanging match in the Oval Office yesterday.

Three millennia ago the Egyptian king Rameses II signed a peace treaty with the Hittite Empire after protracted warfare. The two kings inscribed the treaty on a silver plaque. Two versions of the agreement existed thereafter – the Hittite king went away with a text that said the Egyptians had sued for peace, and the Egyptians' copy said the opposite. One might think an event so long ago irrelevant. Donald Trump, however, evidently thinks he is acting in accordance with time h

Donald Trump's war of words with Volodomyr Zelenskyy. Is the US about to cut a deal about Ukraine's future without consulting Ukrainians?

Trump and Putin spoke on the phone. The US president may be carrying on different negotiations from the ones reported. A contrarian's view.