The recent ceremony of accession of four Ukrainian regions to Russia brought a speech from President Putin that outlined the reasons behind Russia’s current struggles, the character and identify of its foes and, more importantly, laid the groundwork for Russia’s next level of confrontation with the West beyond the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. In his speech, Putin clearly defined the present fight as a worldwide battle in which Russia plays a leading role against the Deep State that ultimately runs the West and which uses all available tools – including military, economic, cultural, and social – in its attempt to preserve unipolar world domination.

Following the joint US-Polish military attack on the Nord Stream pipelines off Bornholm Island in the Baltic, Poland has announced it is escalating the war in Europe with an announcement by President Andrzej Duda.

A SpaceX rocket carrying a Russian crew member blasted off from Florida Wednesday on a voyage that carries significant symbolism as war rages in Ukraine.

The current relationship between the U.S. and Europe is a classic case of abuser and victim. A sabotaged pipeline and Biden’s crazed crusade against Russia have Europe shackled in a downward spiral.

Russia seeks to overthrow the world’s democracies

This horrible war that could have been avoided, shouldn’t have been launched and could have been ended early through a negotiated settlement has reached an unimagined brink. The major parties to the war, Russia, Ukraine and the US, can continue on the path of escalation and go over the brink, or they can start to talk and to listen to each other.

The chances of this widening into a much more devastating conflict demands the West explore what may be possible.

Sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines is a man-made case. How will this affect the future of the industry of strategic importance? Fyodor Lukyanov spoke about this with Valery Bessel, a professor at the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, specifically for the International Review . We publish the full version of the conversation.

The secretary of state says it’s an opportunity to remove Europe’s dependency on Russian energy

A prudent regard for the tragic, unexpected turns history can take would urge leadership in Washington, Moscow, and Beijing to weigh carefully the trajectory they are on and how seriously they want to test moving in another direction.