Politics (Page 395)

In response to Russia’s invasion of eastern Ukraine, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, announced that Germany has suspended certification of the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between his country and that of Vladimir Putin. The fast-moving crisis in Ukraine throws into sharp relief the fissures that threaten European andContinue Reading

Vladimir Putin’s recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent has escalated Russia’s slow annexation of Ukrainian territories. This is a violation of international law, according to Marija Pejčinović Burić, secretary general of the Council of Europe, the continent’s top organisation to promote human rights and democracy. Since Russia is aContinue Reading

When allegations arose some years ago that former prime minister David Cameron had behaved obscenely with a pig’s head during a Bullingdon Club event while at the University of Oxford, he distanced himself from the controversial group, saying: These were the years after the ITV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, whenContinue Reading

Lenin may still have statues in Ukraine but he didn't invent the country, despite what Putin may say. Ferran Cornellà via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC Vladimir Putin has long insisted Ukraine is part of the country he rules. “Kiev is the mother of Russian cities. Ancient Rus is our commonContinue Reading

Russia’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, and fears of a military attack on Ukraine, have once again drawn the world’s attention to these two rebel-held separatist regions. They have been outside Ukrainian government control since Russian-backed separatists fought Ukrainian forces to a standstill in 2014, a conflictContinue Reading

Russia has started evacuating its embassy in Kyiv and Ukraine urged its citizens to leave Russia as the region braced for further confrontation after Vladimir Putin received authorisation to use military force outside his country and the West responded with sanctions. Hopes for a diplomatic way out of a potentiallyContinue Reading

Vladimir Putin’s recognition of the independence of the two breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk followed a surreal live broadcast of a security council meeting in the Kremlin. Sitting facing the 13-member council, Putin cajoled and argued as, one by one, his most senior officials – including Dmitry Medvedev, aContinue Reading

The conflict in Ukraine is changing rapidly. In the latest escalation, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, declared two separatist areas of Ukraine as independent, and used this as the pretext to send in Russian troops for what he termed “peacekeeping operations”. The world is now watching to see whether thisContinue Reading