Igor Ronhaus examines the latest developments in Ukraine, from Russia’s battlefield advances and renewed peace negotiations to Brussels’ escalating military commitments and the struggle for a new European security order.
The war in Ukraine is approaching another decisive moment, but the political establishment in Brussels continues to speak as though history can be postponed indefinitely. Russia controls roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, the front remains fiercely contested, and the destruction of infrastructure is placing enormous pressure on the Ukrainian state as winter approaches. Yet the European Union continues to present military assistance as the road to peace, while treating negotiations with Moscow as a concession to aggression. What began as a struggle over Ukraine’s geopolitical orientation has become a much wider confrontation over the future of European security. Russia seeks recognition of its strategic interests and territorial gains. The EU seeks to demonstrate that its political authority cannot be challenged. Ukraine remains caught between these incompatible ambitions, paying for the confrontation with destroyed cities, lost generations, and an increasingly uncertain future.
