The EU is debating whether to engage in direct talks with Russia while Russia is threatening to kill EU diplomats.

This is the timeline. Russia acted in bad faith. As usual.

The attacks on Ukrainian civilians are textbook terrorism, designed to coerce Ukrainians and the rest of Europe into doing what Russia wants through fear, and to project an illusion of strength to shore up Russia's crumbling international reputation as a great power.

May 2026 has been a month of endless humiliations for Putin. This is what the Kremlin does to try to cover up for it: engage in terrorism. A 🧵about Putin's nightmare month. bsky.app/profile/savc...

My impression is that precisely those who look down on Eastern Europe the most, saying things like "they'll never fix their corruption, it's deeply ingrained" usually want a quick reset with russia and will accuse you of essentialism if you tell them russia needs to reform dramatically first.

This is so outrageous but very predictable. Trump’s ballroom and Arch commissioner is going to Russia to attend Putin’s jewel economic forum. So much corruption that the U.S. is no longer recognizable

Sanctions on fruit, veg and other foodstuffs was the first signal that Putin was willing to escalate against Ukraine over Ukrainian agreements with the EU in the summer of 2013

Meanwhile in Russia: state TV host Vladimir Solovyov, who seems to be utterly depressed, urges fellow Russians to disregard their reservations and embrace China. Weatherman Evgeny Tishkovets follows suit, delivering his weather report in Chinese. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDQr...

The UK government: We're with Ukraine for as long as it takes. The "it" in this sentence apparently being "realising we're actually more worried about people having their holidays cancelled".

The phantom discussion about who should represent the EU in potential talks with Russia/Putin shows above all one thing - that the EU still has not solved the issue of external representation, more than 15years after the Lisbon Treaty.

Sorry, wat? Merkels inschattingsfouten mbt Rusland (én defensie én energie) zijn mede oorzaak dat we in deze shit zitten. www.ad.nl/buitenland/l... En in plaats van zelfreflectie te tonen, heeft ze de landen de schuld gegeven die nota bene het meest bedreigd worden www.rtl.nl/nieuws/buite...

Europe should not be running after Putin. It should be maximising the military & economic pressure on him. Every initiative to “reopen formal channels” will be seen by Putin as a sign of European weakness, & will encourage him to keep fighting.

As analysts grow worried that Ru might be preparing a pretext to attack the Baltics, I see many countering, even mocking such warnings w claims that russia is too weak/overstretched to attack anyone else beside Ukraine. This complacency missunderstands the logic/goal of such an attack— it’s not to…

Personally, what I reject most are arguments that the EU would seek to make it difficult for the UK to rejoin. Yes, there might be some discussions on previous opt-outs, but ultimately a UK rejoin would be the biggest symbolic triumph of European integration in a long long time.

Natuurlijk staan landen niet machteloos. Ze hebben genoeg mogelijkheden in hun diplomatieke toolbox. Het ontbreekt alleen aan de politieke wil om het internationale recht te verdedigen. www.nu.nl/midden-ooste...

the "Thucydides Trap" shows how bad history can succeed if it serves a purpose

I say without hyperbole that this is the most brazenly corrupt action in US Presidential history. That it does not immediately lead to impeachment is a dangerous sign of how far the rule of law has declined.

"Het is opmerkelijk dat Rusland, zelfs terwijl het een zware en uitputtende oorlog tegen Oekraïne voert, zijn beperkte middelen blijft besteden aan de aanleg van dure infrastructuur die geen enkele betekenis heeft voor de overwinning in die oorlog, (...)"

The Russia–Ukraine war is unlikely to end with a negotiated ceasefire. Russia has no genuine incentive to stop fighting — and Ukraine could never accept the Kremlin’s conditions. Why does Europe need to work towards an alternative outcome, and what might that look like?

As Russian liberals push for détente, the security establishment is escalating provocations and war rhetoric — signaling the siloviki may now be actively pushing to expand the conflict beyond Ukraine, raising escalation risks in the Baltic.

Listen to this carefully. He admits what the Ru always knew—no one threatens Ru’s existence because Ru is a nuclear power. “Security concerns” was always a lie Ru managed to sell to a bunch of Westerners. All that russia needs to do to avoid war and destruction is to stay in its frigging borders!

Very happy to share this new essay on @aeon.co about the two original sins of digital technology: #surveillance and #prediction. It is a complement to the #book, #Prophecy

Moscow is threatening Armenia over its European pivot and running a coordinated disinformation campaign to delegitimize Pashinyan ahead of June elections — aiming to derail Yerevan's EU rapprochement before it becomes irreversible.

Reform has gone full pro-Putin following its local election successes. Farage says no Ukraine flags on public buildings (“all foreign flags” but Ukraine was key) and this below from Reform’s Head of Policy James Orr. “I don’t care.” A taste of what will happen if they win power.

the inability to face this among IR analysts and geopolitical pundits is in large part because the strongest lens for understanding Trump are personal psychology, gender, and race, all of which have traditionally been weak points of understand in the field.

Alice Weidel: "I personally consider the war waged by Ukraine to be high security risk for Germany. You can’t keep poking big bear in the eye with hot iron, like drone attack deep into Russia, and expect nothing to happen." What a vile Russian shill.

⚡️ Putin's Transnistria passportization decree likely war recruitment tool, Moldova's president warns "Probably they need more people to send to the war in Ukraine," Moldovan President Maia Sandu said.

People need to understand that every time Pu talks about peace he means Ukrainian surrender. When he said last week the war was nearly over, he meant to express confidence in Russian victory. Whether he’s lying or he’s deluded doesn’t matter.

APPLEBAUM: Russian attack on Ukraine is also attack on EU. Putin long understood that when unified, Europe can resist Russian influence and corruption. When divided, Europeans find it far more difficult to turn down Russian offers of special treatment or lucrative secret deals.

For some supposed peace activists "the threat of growing militarism" has no connection to russian aggression at all; for them, the threat exists because Europe is helping Ukraine defend itself and is preparing to defend more victims of russian aggression. Total moral obtuseness and stupidity.

"Europa moet een strategie voor de overwinning ontwikkelen, niet om vrede smeken."

Not a Merkel fan, but in any case, the EU shd stop thinking about a ‘mediator’ - to Putin, that’s just a sign of its weakness. Von der Leyden said “Ukraine is one of us”, & she was right - not just morally, but strategically. The EU’s msg to Putin shd be that UA’s fight is our fight, & RU won’t win.

OTD in 1955 the Warsaw Pact was formed. A Russian led ‘defensive' alliance that repeatedly attacked itself, its members mysteriously left as soon as they could.

Pu said Schroder should be Europe's negotiator w russia. I wish everyone realized how ridiculous this is. Ru doesn't want to negotiate but to return to cultivating corrupt agents who betray Europe and freedom for russian gas. But unfortunately, Schroder-like politicians are waiting in the wings

The new youth with of the AfD in Bavaria is going full Neo-Nazi historical revisionism claiming that the surrender in 1945 was the "greatest tragedy in German history." The AfD normally edges towards this saying it is not a date to celebrate, but this is explicitly crossing the line.

Russian rep accidentally admits that the “land for peace” proposal is a trap. Plenty of idiots in the West fell for it and relentlessly bullied Zelensky with “why don’t you give up Donbas for peace?” Shame on everyone who pushed this obvious russian manipulation.

Thanks again for inviting me to be part of this wonderfully wide-ranging series „The Causes of War“ with Michael Kimmage @kennaninstitute.bsky.social ⬇️

The myth of Putin's strategic genius, the assumptions about the inevitability of Russian victory, and the fear of Russian collapse have damaged Western thinking about Ukraine from the start. I hope we're finally seeing an end of all of them.

De langverwachte Noord-Koreaanse grondwetswijziging is doorgevoerd. En deze is ingrijpend. Dit zijn de belangrijkste wijzigingen: 1. NK geeft ambitie hereniging met ZK helemaal op. 2. grondgebied NK wordt gedefinieerd (met enige uitzonderingen) als huidig grondgebied www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR2026...

I can't get over how the "proof" that AI is conscious is the software said something like "I get what you're saying, it's very insightful." In history of this era, I bet influential individuals' AI psychosis, especially tech execs, will turn out to be more a factor than people realized at the time.

A few thoughts on the @istories.bsky.social story about "a report by an intelligence service of a European Union country on the real situation in the Kremlin and the condition of Vladimir Putin." 🧵 1) The basic idea that Putin is more concerned about his personal security seems plausible. 1/10

Another interesting talk with Fiona Hill here: youtu.be/HIiEUE-Q8O8?...

BREAKING: Unprecedented security measures have been instituted in the Kremlin in recent weeks as Vladimir Putin anticipates a possible coup or assassination attempt — including a drone strike from within. That's according to a European intel agency: www.occrp.org/en/news/secu...

Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Cheka (precursor to the KGB) and mastermind of the Red Terror, championed “organised terror”, costing hundreds of thousands of lives. Sanshiro Hosaka writes about his whitewashing in Russia. @sanshiro.bsky.social

“For years, we’ve been told that we don’t have to worry about a crazy president (...) because the military would not carry out any illegal order (...) But that’s not real. What we’ve seen in the last year is the military repeatedly carrying out illegal orders.“ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

This is what russian humiliation looks like. And they deserve a lot more of it! The only route to a better russia is full defeat by Ukraine, which could spark a much needed deimperialization process through which Russians slowly realize they are not entitled to dominating their neighbours.

Trump’s latest moves on trade and troops in Europe reconfirm two simple facts: no deal with Trump is worth the paper it’s written on & no degree of bending the knee to him makes an iota of a difference (other than shredding European dignity)

A collective warning to readers of "The Russia-Ukraine War and its Origins: From the Maidan to the Ukraine War" (Palgrave Macmillan / Springer Nature, 2026). www.pravda.com.ua/eng/articles...

OTD in 1941 the Soviets held a May Day parade in Moscow. So they invited their Nazis allies cos it would be rude not to.