STRIKE THE TRUTH

This week, Ukraine and Russia are expected to hold another round of peace talks, once again taking place in Istanbul. However, it seems that Russia is dragging its feet, hesitating over the time and date. These talks are being held at President Zelenskyy's request. For the past three and a half years, we've been asking ourselves how to bring this war to an end. Russia’s demands—previously outlined—remain appalling. Neither Ukraine nor the West can accept such excessive terms. Doing so would send a dangerous signal: that wars of aggression and land grabs are rewarded, and that only time and brute force matter. In this blog post, I want to explore what it might take to bring Putin to the negotiating table—without capitulating to the Kremlin’s outrageous positions.     ENDLESS TALKS   Since the war began, Russia and Ukraine have met at various tables, attempting to negotiate a peace agreement—or at least a ceasefire. Some progress has been made, such as establishing humanita...

I was shocked to read that Britain now considers parts of western Ukraine safe and is encouraging refugees to return and repatriate internally. How can Western allies extend military support with one hand, yet reject Ukrainians based on refugee visa applications with the other? In this blog post, we’ll dive into that contradiction. Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed around the world with open arms. But after three and a half years, is that welcome starting to wear thin?     UKRAINIANS AS REFUGEES Around 7 million Ukrainians have fled their homeland since the war began. The vast majority are women and children. While some men have also left, many have remained in Ukraine to support the war effort in various ways. These families have largely integrated into their host countries. They've found jobs, secured housing, enrolled their children in schools, and learned the local language—or improved their English. Many have built new friendships and formed communities. Since the beg...

These past few weeks, it’s been difficult to find new ways to talk about Ukraine. Not because the war has become less relevant—far from it—but because a kind of  fatigue has set in. The exhaustion of war, of suffering, of seemingly endless struggle, is weighing on me, and maybe on all of us. Three and a half years. That’s how long we’ve spent discussing death, destruction, and the desperate effort to get our Western governments to take this war seriously. And that’s exactly why this topic must remain at the forefront. IT’S NOT THE TIME TO FORGET Ukraine is enduring one of its most difficult summers yet. Although Russia’s summer offensive has largely failed to make significant territorial gains, Ukrainians continue to face relentless nightly attacks from drones and missiles. Cities like Kyiv, Odesa, and Lviv—once considered relatively safe—now live under the constant shadow of aerial threats. Each night, hundreds of drones rain down, sowing terror, destruction, and loss of life. Thi...

The past few weeks have been rough for Ukraine. At first, there was hope that President Trump might start shipping more weapons (especially Patriot Missiles) to Ukraine, after the nice interaction he had with a Ukrainian BBC correspondent at the NATO Summit. But he didn’t. Instead, America announced a few days ago that they will halt all military shipments to Ukraine, citing shortages of their own stock  In this blog post, we’ll explore the broader consequences for Europe—and the world—if Ukraine falls. We've touched on some of these points before, but this time, I want to go deeper. TRUMP VS PUTIN The relationship between Trump and Putin is, to say the least, confusing. On one hand, they’re chummy and full of compliments. On the other, Trump calls Putin “crazy” and insists he doesn’t want peace. His mood seems to change by the day—and unfortunately, so do his decisions. But is that really something we can trust or consider? Putin, by contrast, is cold, calculated, and ...

With America’s long-term loyalty increasingly in question, and more countries forming defense agreements outside of NATO, a pressing question arises: Is Europe beginning to build its own alternative to NATO? Should it? Or is sticking with NATO still the smartest move for European security?  Over the past few years, shifts in U.S. foreign policy and rising global instability have led many European leaders to rethink their reliance on NATO as the cornerstone of their defense. At the same time, new regional alliances and military collaborations are emerging—some quietly, others more openly—raising questions about whether Europe is preparing for a future where NATO no longer plays the central role. In this blog post, we’ll explore whether NATO still holds up—and whether Europe might need a better option.   THE ROOTS OF NATO NATO was founded in 1949, at a time when much of Europe was still recovering from the devastation of World War II and facing a new threat: the rising influence...

The title may sound controversial, but it raises a critical question: How much can we truly trust the United States under Donald Trump’s leadership? This question is especially important given that much of the Western world order still revolves around America’s actions, influence, and alliances. Since the end of World War II, the United States has been Europe’s most important ally. But with Trump’s return to the political spotlight—and potentially to the presidency—it’s worth asking: Will America remain a reliable partner? In this blog post, I want to explore just how much Europe can depend on Trump’s America, and why many European leaders seem to be courting his favor. Is this diplomatic outreach necessary, or is it a dangerous gamble? WAS THE IRAN STRIKE JUSTIFIED?   The first reason I question whether we can truly trust Trump is how he publicly dismissed Tulsi Gabbard when she expressed doubts about Iran’s proximity to developing a nuclear bomb. Gabbard argued, based on availabl...