Ted Snider

Ukraine has lost the war. That is not fake news from social media. It is not propaganda from Russian media. It is what follows deductively from statements made by the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, General Valery Zaluzhny, in a November 1 interview with The Economist. In that interview, Zaluzhny assesses that “we have … Continue reading “Ukraine Has Lost the War”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is facing two troubles on the foreign front that have received a lot of media attention. The first is that his country is actually receiving much less media attention. For the past month, international attention has been drawn away from his war to another. The second is that he is confronting … Continue reading “Volodymyr Zelensky Is in a Sea of Troubles”

With global media attention focussed away from the war in Ukraine, several key events happened that the world didn’t enough notice. One continues to shape the state of global relations, one continues to shape the state of diplomacy toward ending the war, and one continues to shape the state of the battlefield. The State of … Continue reading “Three Major Events in Russia the World Didn’t Notice”

On August 23, 2023, Yevgeni Prigozhin’s plane crashed, ending the life of the leader of the Wagner private military group. Since then, little effort or ink has been spent on who is responsible for his murder. The West’s intrigue and attention was held as long as the story supported the narrative of a crumbling Putin … Continue reading “Did Putin Kill Yevgeni Prigozhin?”

On June 13, 2023, taking questions from war correspondents at the Kremlin, Putin confirmed what had already been reported: that Russia and Ukraine had “reached an agreement in Istanbul.” Peace was possible. The tentative agreement would see Russia withdraw to its prewar position in exchange for a Ukrainian promise to give up its NATO aspirations. But at … Continue reading “The Mounting Evidence That the US Blocked Peace in Ukraine”

On October 17, the third Belt and Road Initiative forum opened in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping making his entrance into the Great Hall. In front of him were over twenty heads of state, representatives from more than 130 countries and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. At his side was Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead … Continue reading “Xi Showcases Russia-China Friendship”

Building on its reputation as an unreliable diplomatic partner, the United States announced on October 12 that it was pulling out of the deal that would have granted Iran access to $6 billion of its money in exchange for the release of five American prisoners. This rare diplomatic success between the U.S. and Iran took … Continue reading “US Breaks Its Deal with Iran… Again”

During his address to the plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his audience of scholars and diplomats that “The Ukraine crisis is not a territorial conflict, and I want to make that clear…[W]e have no interest in conquering additional territory.” He insisted, “This is not a territorial conflict … Continue reading “Does Putin Want To Rebuild the Russian Empire?”

On October 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club near Sochi, Russia. The session was attended by scholars and diplomats from forty-two countries. Putin spoke for half an hour and then answered questions for about three hours. Several interesting things were said. In western discourse it is … Continue reading “Putin’s Valdai Speech, What You Need to Know”

On November 18, 2021, Putin held a meeting with Russian diplomats. Facing renewed vows that Ukraine would enter NATO and continued concerns that NATO’s “military potential and infrastructure [would be] in the vicinity of Russian borders,” Putin turned to his minister of foreign affairs, Sergey Lavrov, and said, “it is imperative to push for serious, … Continue reading “Listening to Lavrov”