Simon Smith

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President Joe Biden and President Volodymyr Zelensky at the final day of the NATO Summit in Washington DC on 11 July 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

InternacionalOTAN

Ukraine had a good NATO summit this time round. That may seem a strange judgement, after leaders in Washington again delivered an equivocal statement on exactly when Ukraine will start formal proceedings to join the alliance.

But the fact that the invitation wasn’t a big issue was a notable success. Another was that leaders took more important decisions on what is needed now to ensure that Russia’s attempt to extinguish Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence ends in total failure.

Of course, Ukraine’s membership of NATO is a very big issue. Russia’s full-on war on Ukraine – and Vladimir Putin’s repeated reminders that this is part of a war on ‘the West’ – have brought about fundamental changes in the European security environment.…  Seguir leyendo »

A Ukrainian soldier sits on an armoured personnel carrier (APC) driving near Sloviansk, eastern Ukraine. Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images

Europa, , ,

As Russia’s war on Ukraine moves into a second year, there has been an upsurge in argument – some of it impeccably well-intentioned – for urgent action to find a solution to the conflict.

The impulse to find ways of stopping the war is understandable. It deserves respect. But it can produce ideas that could – either soon or over time – prolong or renew the conflict rather than solve it.

‘There is a need to find compromises’

It is uncomfortable to come out against such an ostensibly reasonable proposition. But in the case of the present war, which part of Vladimir Putin’s mission to crush Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and identity has reasonable grounds for compromise?…  Seguir leyendo »