Follow us on social

Ukraine could become 'dysfunctional ward' of West

Ukraine could become 'dysfunctional ward' of West

A negotiated settlement is the best way for Kyiv to preserve independence (VIDEO)

Analysis | Video Section

The recent Trump, Vance, and Zelensky office blow-up was ugly. And yet, the moment revealed hard truths about the war in Ukraine: namely, the need to end it.

For years, the Biden administration repeatedly pushed for military aid to Ukraine to continue the fighting. But its efforts have ultimately kept peace out of reach.

Indeed, the Trump administration’s continued push for negotiations comes as the conflict, a functional stalemate between Russia and Ukraine, has resulted in a quarter-million deaths, left another 800,000 wounded, and caused $1 trillion in economic damages. And the Ukrainian government, meanwhile, is running out of troops who can fight.

“Battle lines haven't meaningfully moved since 2022, and declining support in the U.S. for continued war funding only adds to the greater sense of urgency this war needs to end for the sake of Ukraine, for its post-war security, for its prosperity, for its very future,” says Senior Video Producer, Khody Akhavi, in a new video produced for the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

“A negotiated settlement or compromise actually affords Ukraine the best opportunity to actually preserve its independence, a viable path towards reconstruction and eventual membership to the EU. That might not be the sort of end that Ukrainians had sought to this war, but it's very clear where the other path leads.”

Learn more by watching Khody Akhavi’s latest video:


Top Image Credit: Ukraine Needs Peace

Analysis | Video Section
Nato Summit Trump
Top photo credit: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, President Donald Trump, at the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague (NATO/Flickr)

Did Trump just dump the Ukraine War into the Europeans' lap?

Europe

The aerial war between Israel and Iran over the past two weeks sucked most of the world’s attention away from the war in Ukraine.

The Hague NATO Summit confirms that President Donald Trump now sees paying for the war as Europe’s problem. It’s less clear that he will have the patience to keep pushing for peace.

keep readingShow less
Antonio Guterres and Ursula von der Leyen
Top image credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com

UN Charter turns 80: Why do Europeans mock it so?

Europe

Eighty years ago, on June 26, 1945, the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco. But you wouldn’t know it if you listened to European governments today.

After two devastating global military conflicts, the Charter explicitly aimed to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” And it did so by famously outlawing the use of force in Article 2(4). The only exceptions were to be actions taken in self-defense against an actual or imminent attack and missions authorized by the U.N. Security Council to restore collective security.

keep readingShow less
IRGC
Top image credit: Tehran Iran - November 4, 2022, a line of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps troops crossing the street (saeediex / Shutterstock.com)

If Iranian regime collapses or is toppled, 'what's next?'

Middle East

In a startling turn of events in the Israel-Iran war, six hours after Iran attacked the Al Udeid Air Base— the largest U.S. combat airfield outside of the U.S., and home of the CENTCOM Forward Headquarters — President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in the 12-day war, quickly taking effect over the subsequent 18 hours. Defying predictions that the Iranian response to the U.S. attack on three nuclear facilities could start an escalatory cycle, the ceasefire appears to be holding. For now.

While the bombing may have ceased, calls for regime change have not. President Trump has backtracked on his comments, but other influential voices have not. John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, said Tuesday that regime change must still happen, “…because this is about the regime itself… Until the regime itself is gone, there is no foundation for peace and security in the Middle East.” These sentiments are echoed by many others to include, as expected, Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of the deposed shah.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.