Who ate all the Minsk pies?

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.

Trying to make sense of the kind of relationship the UK will have with the US in the next four years.

In the past Donald Trump's praise for Putin was often interpreted as fealty. His current rhetoric suggests a different interpretation.

Belarus's dictator hopes next weekend's election will allow him to re-legitimise his grasp on power. Little suggests that will happen.

On the legitimacy of assassinations. Plus a few thoughts on prisoner exchanges amid concerns foreign citizens are seen as targets for arrest

The fall of Assad has ramifications for Russia's power projection in the Middle East.

Veteran journalist Bob Woodward probes the Joe Biden presidency, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and the return of Donald Trump.

One thousand days of war. The US reportedly agrees to lift restrictions on Ukraine targeting Russia with long-range missiles.

Many think a betrayal is coming. Ever the contrarian, I offer three reasons why the US and its allies might not abandon Ukraine under Trump.

Why it's different this time round.

Anne Applebaum's latest book offers a breezy tour of Dictatorland. And it's a chilling read.

Moldova's voting threw up some surprises: what can we expect in the presidential run off? Meanwhile, Georgians go to the polls this weekend.

Moldova has a presidential election and a referendum this weekend. Russia and the EU are each eager to see a different result.

A postscript to my previous post. Plus a comment on a submission to the International Criminal Court about Belarus and Georgia's election.