France is entrapped in the predicament of countries that get sandwiched between great powers. It is condemned to diplomacy that is constantly in a state of suspended animation interspersed with sudden bouts of activity

The thrust of Putin’s state of the union address lies in his refusal to accept a fate for Russia in existential terms arranged by the West

A recent statement by French President Emmanuel Macron has led to questions on whether the ground is being prepared for a soft landing for the idea of western military deployment in Ukraine in some form

Two years into the war, Ukraine has suffered a significant setback with the fall of Avdiivka. However, neither this defeat nor the failure of its counter-offensive has led to calls for peace, either from its rulers or western allies

The US is re-energizing its coalition with Germany and Poland for the next phase of the Ukraine war. But, the German public is conflicted over this war

All indications are that the US strategy through this year is to ‘hold, build and strike’ at Russia. Meanwhile, Moscow’s best option would be to create a buffer that keeps Russian territories out of reach of game-changing western medium and long-range missiles

Members of the expanded BRICS bloc have declared to work for multilateral regimes and multipolarity against the attempts to create hegemony and dominance in the world politics

Putin’s message is that any new Western narrative on the war is doomed to meet with the same fate as the previous one unless there is realism that Russia cannot be militarily defeated and its legitimate interests are recognized

In less than a month, the US has signed three separate defense agreements with countries like Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, to ramp up the militarization in the Nordic region

Suffice to say, no matter Ukraine’s defeat in the proxy war with Russia, Zelensky’s use for the US’ geo-strategy remains. The US is increasingly eyeing the Arctic lately as the new theater to entrap Russia in a quagmire

Russia and China exceeded their transaction target for trade of USD 200 billion before the end of the year

Ukraine will remain a priority issue for Russia and that is one main reason why the Russian elite and the nation at large want Putin to remain in power until 2030