Rarely mentioned in current commentaries on the war in Ukraine, in the early weeks that followed the February 24, 2022, Russian invasion, Russia and Ukraine engaged in three separate and significant attempts to negotiate a peaceful settlement. Those negotiations had several important things in common. All three could have ended the war before the devastation…
These pragmatic intentions are being made public at this particular time to exploit the opportunity presented by rapidly deteriorating economic and political ties between Poland and Ukraine. Zelensky is supposed to be a Polish ally and Lukashenko an enemy in the eyes of many Poles, yet the roles are now being reversed after the Belarusian…
The stickers themselves were in English, not Polish, and said “We are here. Join us.” The QR code that was printed on them then sent folks to a Russian-language website. This is highly suspicious. If Wagner really wanted to recruit Poles, then they’d write their appeal in Polish, not English. They also wouldn’t link to…
There are three interpretations of why Lukashenko just publicly shared his concerns with Putin about the possibility of Wagner invading Poland. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told his Russian counterpart during talks on Sunday that his country’s local authorities are becoming “concerned” about the Wagner fighters that they’re hosting. According to him, these guests are in…
The interests of Belarus, Wagner, and Russia have already been served, which is why none of those three has any motivation to escalate the situation with Poland, but the Polish leadership might think that it could gain even more than it already has if border tensions become just a little bit worse. Belarus’ recently announced…
The 23rd summit of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), held virtually in New Delhi, represented History in the making: three BRICS (Russia, India, China), plus Pakistan and four Central Asian “stans” (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan), finally and formally, welcomed the Islamic Republic of Iran as a permanent member. And…
