In late May, the Joe Biden administration announced its opposition to sanctions that Republicans in Congress are promoting against International Criminal Court (ICC) officials in reaction to the ICC prosecutor’s decision to file applications for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant concerning the Gaza war. Earlier this month,
The Ukrainian Parliament took another small but meaningful step on the road toward European integration in early June with the adoption of a new law officially establishing English as the language of international communication in Ukraine. In line with this legislation, a wide range of Ukrainian government officials will now be expected to reach a
A combination of Ukrainian ingenuity and Western-supplied long-range missiles is making the Russian occupation of Crimea increasingly untenable. The continued weakening of Russia’s position on the Crimean peninsula is a major blow to Kremlin prestige that also has potentially serious practical implications for the future of the war. In recent weeks, long-awaited supplies of US
While visiting Moscow on May 23, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa told Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country sees “no reason to delay with normalization of relations” with Iran. The king also said that Manama has ceased having problems with Tehran. “We are trying to establish normal diplomatic, trade, and cultural relations
On June 9, after a one-day delay to let the excitement over the rescue of four hostages to subside, Benny Gantz and his National Unity Party exited the Israeli government in a politically risky face-saving maneuver. Gantz had joined the government on October 10, 2023, to demonstrate unity and steady leadership as the country banded
Senior Biden administration officials are concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin has more surprises in store for them regarding Ukraine, timed to disrupt and upstage NATO’s seventy-fifth anniversary summit in Washington from July 9 to 11. “He wants nothing more than to rain on our parade,” one senior US official recently told me. Some administration
The upcoming Summit on Peace in Ukraine, organized by the Swiss government in coordination with the Ukrainian government, is the most ambitious convening yet for Ukraine’s ongoing effort to rally global support for its vision for a just and lasting peace in the country. The high-level gathering in Switzerland on June 15 and 16 will
What will Vladimir Putin do next if he wins in Ukraine? In recent months, more and more Western policymakers have reached the conclusion that a victorious Russia would almost certainly expand the war deeper into Europe as Putin seeks to rewrite the existing world order and continue on his crusade to return “historically Russian lands.”
