There is plenty in the 28-point list of US/Russian surrender demands for Ukraine that is nonsensical, unenforceable, or so vague as to be meaningless. My favourite might be “9. European fighter jets will be stationed in Poland.” It could have been written for maximum vagueness to wrangle over -

Geneva, and delighted to be soon starting an event with @philipobaji.bsky.social, @mariamlambert.bsky.social and other stars, thanks to the UN delegations of Poland, Estonia and Latvia (and the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia). Join us at www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjPd...

Why russia cannot help but invade? Been pondering this question for a decade now... 🇷🇺 didn’t “return” to dictatorship under POO-tihn. It never left. Rusich is crowdsourcing war crimes, Navalnaya is asking 🇪🇺 to fix 🇷🇺 for russians, and I try to make sense of it all kyivindependent.com/why-russia-c...

Fun conversation just now with one of my favourite journalists. She: "Can we talk about the new Trump plan for forcing Ukraine to surrender?" Me: "What makes you think this is a Trump plan and not a Russian info op that Western media have all fallen for?" She: "Hold on. [clickey click] Ohhh..."

Quite disappointed they didn’t have rancid polecat.

WHAT WOULD HE SAY.

If it has not done so already, NATO needs to wake up fast to the growing UK-shaped gap in its plans. In August I wrote of dashed hopes for the new Labour government. Today, Julian Lindley-French - www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-br... - writes of how the gap with serious NATO allies is widening fast.

Grammarians and OCD types, look away now. That’s the third time she has said over the PA: “Once again, this is your last and final boarding call.”

The 1970s were a very long time ago. Trust me, I know this.

Germany, a country of 84 million people, aspires to have a war-time military slightly smaller than Finland, a country of 5.6 million people, by 2035.

Thanks to @rich-bryant.uk for reposting because that led to a tiny thrill at discovering that @joanarmatrading.bsky.social (!!!) is on here and, astonishingly, I am only follower No. 667.

The old joke about the primary international response to war crimes, aggression and atrocities by Russia being a strongly worded tweet was never actually a joke.

Russia's insatiable demand for bodies to feed the meatgrinder of its war on Ukraine has a real and tragic human cost for the Global South. Here @munira.bsky.social in @engelsbergideas.bsky.social describes deceit and exploitation in Africa, South Asia and beyond. engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...

📚 ADVANCE STOCK ALERT! Who Will Defend Europe? by @keirgiles.bsky.social is now updated & in paperback. Grab your copy direct ➡️ tinyurl.com/ckfsdvw2 & get 25% off w/code GILES25. ‘A blistering account of our defence shortcomings.’ @edwardlucas.bsky.social, @thetimes.com

As such, need to step up our efforts to minimise such disruption. It won't happen however until a major incident occurs in the UK.

We know the familiar pattern: “Moscow still loves a loser: failed journalists, has-beens, also-rans, sex pests and disgruntled narcissists end up going to work for the Kremlin.” More essential reading from @michaeldweiss.bsky.social. open.substack.com/pub/macspaun...

Well who can resist that. www.hurstpublishers.com/book/who-wil...

Apparently this is now my formal job title. That’s probably OK.

Rare for me to disagree with @factforce.bsky.social, but the time for a no-fly zone over Ukraine was not immediately after the start of the full-scale invasion: it was weeks before it started. www.politicshome.com/thehouse/art...

If, like me, you had been wondering what and where were the "eight wars in eight months" that Donald Trump claimed to have ended, you might find this list interesting. (I was sent it, unsolicited, after wondering just that in a media interview.)

Sorry, NATO and EU staffers, the context for this was whether or not there was any point in Russia vapourising Brussels.

Andrew Rettman of @euobserver.com spoke to three people who Have Views on how and when Russia might use nuclear weapons, and came away deeply sceptical. (Spoiler: I am only one of the three.) Paywalled, apologies.

I'm confident that Russia's promises of escalation dominance should not be allowed to dictate a passive Western response to Moscow's crimes. But I'm not as confident as @euobserver.bsky.social's Andrew Rettman. [Paywalled, sadly, as it's a rollicking good read.] euobserver.com/EU%20&%20the...

You may be partly joking; but there is a serious point here about how the inability of the UK's armed forces to sustain public events does sometimes suggest inability to do far more important, operational things. Still, at least they're not going to run out of horses any time soon. amzn.to/4cFI1b6

If I've understood this correctly, the idea is for the UK to provide usable forces for two separate coalitions of the willing, at a time when there are already question marks over what it could provide for just one. www.politico.eu/article/brit...

Now available in Europe. Highly recommended.

Back in April I described for the US Homeland Defense Institute whether, when, and why, Russia's "mayhem" campaigns could target the US as well as Europe. That report is now public. Much has happened since April - but all of it seems to confirm its key points. www.thepresidency.org/all-publicat...

“Oh four thirty. What does the ‘O’ stand for? ‘Oh my God it’s EARLY.’”

Das gilt auch für Österreich. Würde ein Papier mit der Aufschrift ‘Neutralität’ als Schutzschild gegen ballistische Raketen funktionieren?

Dude would be That Crazy Guy on the Subway Train everywhere else other than russia.

Well let’s see whether, after some frank conversations about being “neutral“ while located in the heart of Europe, I ever get invited back to Switzerland again. www.watson.ch/internationa...

This is exactly the level of detail we need. Well done CBC. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

The professional diplomats among us can let us know whether achieving impact in the destination country is part of an ambassador’s mission. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Well there's the dodgiest endorsement I've had in quite a while. Russian historico-nationalist rag Stoletie approvingly quotes me from @thesun.co.uk of all places, about Russian potential to do damage in Europe: "they need more experts like that", apparently. www.stoletie.ru/tekuschiiy_m...

I’ve just told yet another European colleague, concerned that Reform will be the next UK government, that they probably won’t because the UK voting system is profoundly undemocratic. Once again they are a little uneasy about that but prefer it to Brits getting what they vote for (see e.g. Brexit).

Why are Russia's frozen assets abroad largely untouched after almost four years of war? The answers are invariably long and frustrating. But here's a detailed but accessible explainer from Alexander Kolyandr via @carnegieendowment.org. Highly recommended. carnegieendowment.org/russia-euras...

The 🇬🇧 director of public prosecutions has said the 🇨🇳 China spy case collapsed because a top national security official could not say the country had been classed as an "enemy" when the Conservatives were in power.“ ~ I struggle to understand. Is espionage for ‘non-enemies’ not a crime in the UK?

At any moment now I am expecting an angry goose to appear and ask WHAT “OTHER AREAS”?

I was pleased to see that the "Risk of Contagion" report on when and whether Russian sabotage attacks could spread to the United States (link in reply) was picked up in this David Ignatius @washingtonpost.com op-ed on where the US's real threats are. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Right out of the textbooks. Whether it will succeed or not remains to be seen, but there is nothing complicated about what's happening here.

The Trump administration finally doing things that will annoy Moscow is unexpected and welcome. But it will take a great deal more to make any real difference to Russia’s determination to destroy Ukraine. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...

I’m glad the I Paper editors chose to leave this tangential detail in my post-mortem of yesterday’s Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, just in case there was any lingering doubt over the infantilism of the current US administration. inews.co.uk/news/world/t...

Nothing to see here. Move along please.

Back in April I described for the US Homeland Defense Institute whether, when, and why, Russia's "mayhem" campaigns could target the US as well as Europe. That report is now public. Much has happened since April - but all of it seems to confirm its key points. www.thepresidency.org/all-publicat...

Whatever you were thinking of doing this Sunday morning, it now has to change. worldconkerchampionships.com

I’m off to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Ljubljana, where at least one local outlet is primarily upset at the huge traffic disruption resulting from the event. Still, they think I am with RUSI, so we can just blame them. www.delo.si/novice/slove...

This is really elementary stuff. The time to publicly explain why you are fleeing an authoritarian regime is AFTER YOU HAVE LEFT not right before you get on the plane. Because then you may well not get on it.