Tag - russia

 
 

RUSSIA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Wednesday
WORLD
Mar 26, 2026
U.S. links security guarantees to Ukraine giving up Donbas, Zelenskyy says
U.S. President Donald Trump is applying pressure ​to Ukraine in an effort to bring a quick end to the four-year war there.
An oil tanker anchors off Muscat, Oman, on March 7, as regional tensions amid the U.S.-Israeli-Iran conflict have virtually closed off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 25, 2026
War in the Persian Gulf means volatility in the global energy market
Japanese companies have long assumed a stable future energy supply. That assumption is no longer secure.
Donald Trump's decades-long unchanging foreign policy approach, combined with erratic behavior, has amplified risks and confusion in U.S. dealings with Russia, Iran and the wider world.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 24, 2026
We’re all trapped in Trump’s 1980s worldview
Current events provide a vivid example of how Trump’s failure to evolve distorts policy making.
Russia is pushing its Max social media platform in a heavy-handed rollout that has raised concerns that Moscow will use the app to surveil its citizens and further cut digital links to the West.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 24, 2026
Russia’s Max: The unencrypted super-app being forced on citizens
Max is being rolled out with a massive promotion campaign and the simultaneous blocking of Whatsapp and Telegram, the country’s two most popular messenger apps.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during the Conservative Political Action Conference at a sports and cultural center in Budapest on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 24, 2026
EU ‘concerned’ by reports Hungary leaked information to Russia
Hungary’s foreign minister allegedly called his Russian counterpart during breaks in EU meetings to give “direct reports on what was discussed.”
People outside St. Basil's Cathedral in central Moscow on Monday. Over the past week, mobile internet has been completely down every day in parts of central Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major cities.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Mar 20, 2026
‘Great crackdown’: Russia tightens the screws on the internet
The government is restricting messaging services Telegram and WhatsApp and taking down dozens of VPNs that can be used to swerve bans on sites and apps.
Rising public disillusionment with democratic institutions is fueling support for disruptive leaders like Donald Trump, whose “wrecking-ball” politics are dismantling the postwar liberal international order.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2026
A world on the eve of destruction
In all the countries surveyed for the Munich Security Index 2026, the downsides of U.S. President Donald Trump’s wrecking-ball politics dominate public perceptions.
A former Ukrainian service member, who was injured in the war against Russia and now has a prosthetic leg, takes part in an indoor climbing session at Climbing SPACE in Kyiv on Feb. 26.
WORLD
Mar 18, 2026
‘It’s adrenaline’: Ukraine amputee veterans climb for recovery
Tens of thousands of wounded veterans are readjusting to civilian life, finding solace in the host of activities and communities popping up to cater to their growing numbers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrive for a reception marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sept. 3, 2025.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 18, 2026
China and Russia driving autocratic shift around world, report says
China and Russia “sit at the center of global authoritarian collaboration” and were jointly involved in around half of all recorded activity, the report said.
A man walks down a street in the rain as Cuba reconnected its electrical grid across much of the island, according to the Energy and Mines Ministry, following a nationwide blackout that left about 10 million people without electricity, in Havana on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 18, 2026
Cuba’s worst fuel crisis in decades may get relief from Russia
A tanker carrying Russian crude appears headed to Cuba as the fuel-starved island seeks a reprieve three months after the U.S. effectively shut off the flow of oil to the country.
The liquefied natural gas tanker Sohshu Maru approaches a thermal power station in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture, in December 2021.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2026
Japan’s energy dilemma in an era of volatility
Between 30% to 40% of Japan’s power generation relies on LNG, yet the country maintains only two to three weeks of LNG feedstock for electricity generation.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives to attend the EU Western Balkans summit ahead of the European Council in Brussels in December.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2026
Orban’s election campaign turns to Russia for help in final stretch
The Hungarian president has frequently sought to obstruct the European Union’s efforts to support Ukraine and punish Moscow for its invasion.
A beach off Gujarat, India, on Wednesday with a tanker carrying Russian oil in the background
WORLD
Mar 13, 2026
U.S. eases Russia oil sanctions to tame price surge, riling European allies
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the waiver was a bid to stabilize global energy markets roiled by the Iran war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Dec. 5, 2025.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2026
Putin’s ‘hidden hand’ guides Iran’s strikes in widening war
Moscow is currently providing Tehran with various forms of intelligence in an effort to help Iran hit back at U.S. forces in the region.
U.N. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism Ben Saul speaks during a news conference at the European headquarters of the U.N. in Geneva on Dec. 11, 2024.
WORLD
Mar 13, 2026
World in ‘new dark age’ of abuse, U.N. rights expert says
Ben Saul said the war in the Middle East would not improve global security.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz listens to Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia as he addresses the United Nations Security Council during a meeting on a sanctions resolution regarding the situation in Iran and the Middle East at U.N. headquarters in New York on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2026
U.S. and allies clash with Russia and China over Iran nuclear program
At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Russia and China moved unsuccessfully to block a discussion about a committee on U.N. sanctions on Iran.
U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran will likely reinforce Kim Jong Un’s belief that nuclear weapons guarantee regime survival.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2026
U.S. strikes on Iran will only harden North Korea’s nuclear resolve
Kim’s lesson from the Iran strikes will be simple: Autocrats without nuclear weapons are sitting ducks, while states who develop them them have protection.
Rapid military modernization, expanding nuclear arsenals and shifting alliances in Asia are complicating deterrence strategy, underscoring the need for deeper cooperation among the U.S., Japan and their partners.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2026
Amid a regional transformation, deterrence remains ‘simple’
Despite all the changes, the most basic factor remains the same. Force modernization is ultimately intended to ensure that nations can defend themselves from external threats.
A monument to Russian Czar Alexander III on the embankment of the Siberian Ob River in Novosibirsk, Russia. Climate change is undermining Central Asia’s water supply by shrinking glaciers and rivers, prompting interest in the river as a potential source to meet the region’s needs.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2026
A Soviet-era water scheme returns as a Eurasian lifeline
The convergence of climate, economic and geopolitical crises has transformed this once-impractical proposal into an urgent policy priority.
A mother and her daughter walk holding a heart balloon on Valentine's Day at the Lychakiv Military Cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Feb. 14. The issue of Russia's deportation and forcible transfer of children is highly sensitive in Ukraine and remains central to negotiations for a potential peace agreement between Kyiv and Moscow.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2026
Russia committed ‘crimes against humanity’ in deporting Ukrainian children, U.N. says
The U.N.’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has so far confirmed 1,205 cases of Russia deporting or transferring children from occupied areas of Ukraine.

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival