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Opinion

Various unmanned systems are displayed at an event in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 11, 2024.

How Ukraine’s defense tech is shaping the future of warfare

by Anatoliy Khomenko

Geopolitical events over the past three years have forced a rethinking of the global security framework. Ukraine’s battlefield has evolved into an innovation lab for modern defense technologies — transforming not only how wars are fought but also how peace is secured. Drawing insights from the recent Brave1 Defense Tech

Slovakia’s protests prove the fight for Europe isn’t over

Slovakia’s protests prove the fight for Europe isn’t over

by Peter Techet

On March 7, tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Slovakia for the third time this year to protest the pro-Russian policies of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government. They voiced concerns that Slovakia is drifting away from the European Union and its transatlantic allies. Their

JD Vance (R-OH) speaks at a campaign rally at VFW Post 92 in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, U.S. on Aug. 15, 2024.

Come to Bucha, JD Vance

by David Junk

During a heated exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, U.S. Vice President JD Vance accused the Ukrainian president of leading “propaganda tours” of Russia’s destruction in the country. Zelensky, in turn, asked Vance if he had ever been to Ukraine. Of

German Bundeswehr troops stand during the Quadriga military exercises in Pabrade, Lithuania, on May 29, 2024.

The case against European rearmament

by Yanis Varoufakis

Inducting Ukraine into NATO after forcing Russia back behind its pre-2014 borders has been the only strategic aim EU leaders have allowed themselves to contemplate since Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago. Alas, well before U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election, this aim slipped into the realm of

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he departs the White House in Washington, DC, U.S. on Feb. 28, 2025.

Trump’s Oval Office clash with Zelensky killed diplomacy

by Slavoj Žižek

The showdown between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Feb. 28 shocked the entire world. But instead of analyzing its political impact, let’s focus on the details of manners, gestures, which may seem less important than the issues at stake,

Donald Trump and JD Vance meet with Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, D.C., U.S. on Feb. 28, 2025.

6 silver linings of the Trump-Zelensky showdown

by Timothy Ash

The ambush by hired hand U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the White House Oval Office at high noon on Feb. 28 made for great theater, more 24-hour TV than diplomacy. At first, it seemed like an absolute disaster for President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine, potentially risking the withdrawal

Then-president-elect Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA, U.S. on Nov. 2, 2024.

Peace in Ukraine must look like Korea, not Vichy

by Nicu Popescu

Peace is an attractive, yet elusive, concept. It can mean different things to different people at different times. Ukraine is a case in point. The quest for peace could yield either of two fundamentally different outcomes: a Vichy-style capitulation, perhaps with an interim ceasefire that buys Russia more time to

Mothers with newborns in a shelter at a maternity hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 24, 2022.

In 3 years of war, Ukraine's mothers have been forced underground

by Ulla Müller

As Ukraine reaches the three-year mark since Russia’s full-scale invasion, the impact on women’s health — and especially maternal health — has grown increasingly dire. Missiles and drone attacks strike without warning, putting pregnant women and their newborns at constant risk. In areas closer to the front line, the challenges

Then-presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky casts his ballot at a polling station in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 31, 2019.

Why Ukraine can’t hold elections during wartime

by Olga Aivazovska

Editor’s Note: This op-ed was first published by the Ukrainian NGO Civil Network OPORA as an open statement, which garnered nearly 300 signatures at the time it was published by the Kyiv Independent. Democracy during wartime must be protected even more than in peacetime, as the consequences of mistakes

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10:01 PM

Putin does not 'want to take all of Europe,' Witkoff says.

In an interview with Fox News on March 23, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff discussed negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, expressing his optimism about Russian President Vladimir Putin's commitment to peace.
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