Eastern Europe / Opinion
COMMENT: Russian drone and jet incursions highlight shortcomings in Nato’s multilayered air defence system
A spate of Russian drone incursions has stress-tested Nato’s air defences. On September 10, nineteen Russian drones violated Poland’s airspace — the alliance’s worst such breach in more than seventy-five years.
COMMENT: Can Ukraine avoid a macroeconomic collapse? - Shevchenko
“As Ukraine enters autumn 2025, its economy teeters on the brink of a new macroeconomic shock, with its recovery potential exhausted,” Kyrylo Shevchenko, the former head of the National Bank of Ukraine said in an opinion piece on September 18.
Washington has “surrendered” in the Central Asia battle for influence, says ex-ambassador
Russia and China now dominate narrative across region, Daniel N. Rosenblum tells students at Yale. If US cuts itself off from the world, “we will ultimately be less secure and less prosperous,” he warns.
Europe faces harsh realities in Ukraine as long war looms - Ash
Timothy Ash, senior sovereign strategist at BlueBay Asset Management in London, says European policymakers are belatedly waking up to the fact that the war in Ukraine is set to be prolonged — and that they alone may have to foot the bill.
COMMENT: US-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal exposes Russia’s strategic failures
The recent peace breakthrough between Armenia and Azerbaijan is a major diplomatic win for the United States and a setback for Russia, according to a new report published by the Atlantic Council.
COMMENT: Ukraine’s coming financial storm
“A crisis is drawing ever closer. It will break in Ukraine, but it won’t begin on the frontlines, where the country’s battle-weary brigades continue to impose a brutal cost on the Russian invader," writes Timothy Ash of BlueBay Asset Management.
INTERVIEW: The rags-to-riches rise of Freedom Holding Corp's Timur Turlov
As he rang the Nasdaq exchange bell to start trading in his company’s shares, the childhood dream of this Wall Street movie fan from a poor Moscow suburb had come true.
McFaul: Putin Is Making Trump Look Weak
It’s time for a new, effective, and credible response. Nearly two dozen Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace. Nato forces promptly shot them down - the first direct military confrontation between Russia and Nato since the Ukraine war started
Ukraine facing a financial cliff as IMF warns Ukraine may need an extra $20bn of external funding in 2025
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded that Ukraine’s financing needs for 2026 and 2027 could be as much as $20bn higher than the government in Kyiv’s own estimates, as negotiations begin on securing a new aid package.
COMMENT: What were Russian drones doing in Poland?
With no clear explanation from Moscow, theories have proliferated over how and why more than a dozen Russian drones crossed into Poland on September 10—and what this means for European security.
COMMENT: Need and loathing in Russia – unpacking the labour migration paradox
Central Asian guest workers face growing hardship.
COMMENT: France’s instability risks weakening Europe at a critical moment
The French government fell on September 8, facing a 5.8% of GDP budget deficit it can neither fund nor reduce, plunging the Fifth Republic into yet another crisis at a critical time for Europe.
COMMENT: Putin’s pivot to China cements Russia’s vassalage to Beijing
When Donald Trump declared that Joe Biden had made the “unthinkable” mistake of pushing Moscow into Beijing’s arms, the US president suggested their partnership was inherently fragile.
COMMENT: Potential sanctions on Russian oil keeps price outlook uncertain
The ongoing Ukraine war ceasefire talks and the potential for new and even more extreme sanctions on Russian oil exports is keeping the outlook for the price of oil uncertain, Oxford Economics said in a note.
COMMENT: Russia’s size is its Achilles’ heel as Ukraine targets its oil infrastructure
Since August the Armed Forces of Ukraine has mounted a continuous barrage on Russian refineries that has reduced output by 20%. Russia is so big that the Kremlin can’t protect all its pipelines and refineries.