Reflections from our correspondents on the ground in the Russian capital.
May 15, 2026
US President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing ends today and he has been forced to eat humble pie after coming out of the gate last year with an extremely aggressive policy on China.
May 12, 2026
Something has quietly shifted in Russia. Not the social and economic meltdown Western pundits have been confidently predicting almost continuously for the last two decades. But something has changed and the people are not happy.
April 23, 2026
Phew. That was an effort. EU leaders met in Brussels yesterday and signed off on releasing the €90bn loan for Ukraine that will keep it in the fight with Russia for another two years. They also passed the twentieth sanctions package on Russia,
April 2, 2026
Superficially the war in Iran has dealt Ukraine a huge blow. The White House is now completely distracted, and the Trump administration seems to have abandoned, or at least paused, the ceasefire negotiations with Russia.
March 4, 2026
The Kremlin is looking on with concern as Operation Epic Fury unfolds in the Middle East. The US has gone in with its standard “shock and awe” strategy of attacking with overwhelming force. But Putin probably sees this as another Libya.