Delighted that @edwardlucas.bsky.social has reviewed paperback of The Baton & the Cross today @thetimes.com If you want to know more about why Russian clerics promise eternal life to those who kill Ukrainians, I'm at Stanfords Travel Books in Covent Gdn 19th November.

Fogbound: Narrative Wars | "Ukraine’s setbacks are troubling but only part of the story." @edwardlucas.bsky.social

Other countries have state-funded agencies with the sole duty of championing financial consumers’ rights. The FCA is paid for by a levy on the financial industry. It reports to the Treasury, not to the Ministry of Justice. (£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu... By @edwardlucas.bsky.social

Thank you @edwardlucas.bsky.social! cepa.org/article/boot... via @cepa.org

False Alarms: and Real Ones | "Western scaremongering about the Baltics’ vulnerability is missing the real threat." @edwardlucas.bsky.social

Denmark’s drone humiliation weakens us all - important comment by @edwardlucas.bsky.social “But it has been “sleepwalking” when it comes to its domestic security, says Hans Tino Hansen, a hawkish Dane who runs Risk Intelligence, a consultancy.” www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Recommended reading from @edwardlucas.bsky.social 👇

and here in Swedish

@edwardlucas.bsky.social on Mario Draghis evisceration of current EU politics. “…the EU is a mere “spectator” in world politics. It meekly accepts US tariffs. It is sidelined in conflicts in Iran and Gaza. In Ukraine, it pays the piper but does not call the tune...”

Brilliant article by @edwardlucas.bsky.social indeed. Here's the 🎁 link (no paywall). www.thetimes.com/article/1585...

MAXimum surveillance: how Russians are being driven into the FSB’s pocket messenger. Starting September 1, the Russian messenger Max will become mandatory for preinstallation on all devices in Russia⤵️

Our diplomacy and discussion frame the central issue as finding a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine. Seen from Moscow a much wider contest is under way, aiming to break the old rules and alliances to create a might-is-right world. (£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu... By @edwardlucas.bsky.social

Denis, I recommend looking more closely at Italy than that. The fair criticism of Meloni is that she and her government have shied away from any major reforms. The one that bears no relation to reality is that she and her government bear any resemblance to Mussolini, because (so far!!) they don't

Weakly: Captive Nations | "The Trump administration remembers to mark a Cold War anniversary." @edwardlucas.bsky.social

Discussed in this column by @edwardlucas.bsky.social today (£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

delighted to sign this letter www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Banking: Moldova’s Winning | "Russia’s grip on the unrecognized Transnistrian state is weakening. No stunts, please." @edwardlucas.bsky.social

“Battered, beleaguered, tired and outnumbered, Ukrainians have, at minimal cost, in complete secrecy, and over vast distances, destroyed or damaged dozens, perhaps more, of Russia’s strategic bombers [in the] the most audacious attack of the war.” @edwardlucas.bsky.social

National defence must include our elections - as @edwardlucas.bsky.social argues those who want to damage our democracy are as likely to use electoral interference as bombs. An ambitious Elections Bill must urgently close the gaping loopholes in our defences. www.thetimes.com/article/e280...

Under our flimsy rules, any foreign kleptocrat or broligarch can promote such causes, shrouded in anonymity, so long as they do so outside an election period and without supporting a specific party or candidate. (£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu... By @edwardlucas.bsky.social

"The one thing you need to know about the Nordic Baltic region plus Poland is it has a GDP larger than Russia" — @edwardlucas.bsky.social, Senior Advisor at Center for European Policy Analysis @cepa.org #LennartMeriConference

"Amid the media fireworks of the tariff war, long-term strategic considerations are absent. By contrast, Putin does have a plan. Befriend Trump. Split the European Union. Wreak havoc. Wear down Ukraine. So far, it’s working." @edwardlucas.bsky.social

"We have seen a new kind of warfare unfold in Ukraine, but most countries have barely started to devote the time and money needed to get ready to fight the new way." @edwardlucas.bsky.social

Good interview with @edwardlucas.bsky.social on Times Radio. Completely agree that we’re not seeing an adequate sense of urgency regarding rearmament in Europe, and that we might not be as lucky this time around. youtu.be/-oMHPtYb9jw?...

Our cover this week.

my latest for @foreignpolicy foreignpolicy.com/2025/04/23/u...

“The EU leadership and the CCP are jointly championing free trade, and denouncing the disruption caused by Trumpian tergiversation on tariffs.” @edwardlucas.bsky.social

China First? No Thanks | "Transatlantic angst clouds Europe’s strategic choice." @edwardlucas.bsky.social

How should Europe respond to the US-China tariff war? America First or China First? The ultimate dilemma, @edwardlucas.bsky.social writes in Lithuania's LRT, is whether to throw Europe's hat in with the US, or tacitly accept Chinese dominance.

@edwardlucas.bsky.social concludes, ‘Faced with the choice between a lucrative US-led rapprochement with Russia and the perilous confrontation involved in staying loyal to Ukraine, many countries may choose safety over honour. In the long run they will lose both’. Choose loyalty. #SlavaUkraïni 🇺🇦

“Strong, happy allies, bound by ties of friendship, are better than weak, resentful ones ruled by fear.” @edwardlucas.bsky.social

Airwaves: Turn the Dial | "The US is abandoning its international broadcasters. Europe should step in." @edwardlucas.bsky.social

On the defunding of @rferl.org.web.brid.gy, opinions on how Europe should respond differ. @edwardlucas.bsky.social at Eesti Päevaleht argues that Europe should take over the baton and run the station. But Mladá Fronta Dnes warns against pursuing an escalating culture war with Trump's US.

“If Europe is going stand up to Russia, China, and the United States, it needs not just economic clout and military might, but a soft-power arsenal combining development aid and information.” @edwardlucas.bsky.social

Ukraine Ceasefire Deal — What Does it Mean? | "So far, Western interaction with the Kremlin has resembled a game of tennis, but with a few tweaks. One player — the Russian — always serves. The court is unevenly shaped. The Ukrainian has his shoelaces tied together." @edwardlucas.bsky.social

My friend Lennart Meri died OTD in 2006. A good opportunity to read his prescient speech from 1994. Footnote: Putin was at this dinner and walked out, slamming the door president.ee/en/official-...

long interview in Czech www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/zahra...

European-led Ukraine air protection plan could halt Russian missile attacks Sky Shield proposal drawn up by military experts would be operated separately from NATO and deploy 120 fighter jets #SkyShieldNow www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

A key plea from Ukrainians since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 has been for allies to "Shield our Skies". The UK should be part of the proposed Sky Shield air protection plan. After all we did it for Isreal last year, so why not Ukraine? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

The Sky Shield proposal shows Europe stepping up where NATO hesitates, offering a bold but cautious strategy to protect Ukraine without crossing Moscow’s red lines. It’s a reminder that sometimes security demands creativity,and a bit of strategic independence. (Ukraine- Europe)

Sky Shield proposal: European air force of 120 fighter jets could be deployed to secure the skies from Russian attacks on Kyiv and western Ukraine without necessarily provoking a wider conflict with Moscow, according to a plan drawn up by military experts. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

"European-led Ukraine air protection plan could halt Russian missile attacks - Sky Shield proposal drawn up by military experts would be operated separately from Nato and deploy 120 fighter jets." @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

In what could potentially save thousands of lives in Ukraine, Europe drawing up plans for a sky shield that would cover almost half of Ukraine.

🇪🇺✈️ A European air force of 120 fighter jets could secure Ukraine’s skies from Russian attacks without escalating the war, say military experts. The proposed Sky Shield would be EU-led, separate from NATO, and protect Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv & nuclear plants. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Sky Shield, its proponents argue, would be a European-led air protection zone operated separately from Nato to halt Russian cruise missile and drone attacks on cities and infrastructure, potentially operating as part of the “truce in the sky” proposed by Ukraine’s president, Zelenskyy, this week.

‘"Responding to the historic appeal of the future German Chancellor [Friedrich Merz], I decided to open the strategic debate on the protection by our [nuclear] deterrence of our allies of the European continent," announced Mr. Macron’ lemonde.fr/international/…

I was interested to read the Times review by @edwardlucas.bsky.social of Howard Amos’s book ‘Russia starts here’ about the Pskov region. There’s a certain amount in common with my own Borderlines - Pskov is a border region but it’s largely a dead end www.thetimes.com/culture/book... …