A new defense minister, an encouraging visit from the U.S. secretary of state and another $1 billion in aid have fueled optimism in Ukraine this week. But will they have an impact on the war?

Billions are pouring into a clubby, secretive arms market. With Pentagon cash and unusually close Ukrainian military ties, Marc Morales has few peers.

Plus: Are you ready for President Kamala?

Volodymyr Zelensky removes his defence minister and goes after an oligarch

During a speech at the EU Parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg clearly and repeatedly acknowledged that Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine because of fears of NATO expansionism.

Former PrivatBank owner and oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky along with five associates has been charged with embezzling UAH9.2bn ($250mn) from Ukraine’s biggest commercial PrivatBank, kicking off what will be Ukraine’s biggest ever corruption case.

The pre-counteroffensive debate in the US was dominated by claims of ‘victory’ and ‘success’ despite available evidence predicting it wouldn’t meet key goals.

War is the single worst thing humans do. The most insane. The most cruel. The most destructive. The most traumatic. The least sustainable. Those who knowingly choose to steer humanity into more war when it could be avoided are the worst people in the world, without exception.

Keeping channels for dialogue open with the Kremlin, Pope Francis has bucked the Western world’s refusal to take a mediated approach to ending the Ukraine war.

A slew of leading American papers has gloomily predicted that the summer offensive is going nowhere