Edward Lucas

The implosion of the Assad regime will weaken Putin's hand in any negotiations to end the war. Now he is on the back foot, while Volodymyr Zelensky is basking in the spotlight.

Pursuit of Russian assets held in Britain has been feeble but that could change this week

The ship Yi Peng 3 is detained by Denmark after severing underwater data cables. Russia, China, and the West are at odds over what is next.

The only way to tackle Putin’s growing targeting of seabed cables and pipes is to confront it

After the cutting of the Estlink 2 cable, Finland has just given Russian sabotage operations have just hit their first real obstacle.

Estlink 2, a submarine power cable running between Finland and Estonia, was cut and other cables were damaged on Christmas Day. After departing from Russia, the oil tanker Eagle S was detained by the Finnish coast guard with a missing anchor and seven of its crew members are now under investigation. Europe's media see Moscow's 'shadow fleet' as an instrument of hybrid warfare – and call for tougher countermeasures.

In Zero Sum, Charles Hecker reveals the hubris, greed and gullibility of the Western investors who flocked into Russia to make big bucks

Bemoan the political failures that swell the protest vote, not the populists’ rise. We will survive what comes next if we want to.

History suggests he will be far from impossible to deal with, as long as we drop our prissiness

Lithuania’s Snow Meeting is set to discuss Europe's key defense priorities. As crises loom, questions still outnumber answers.