Relations between the triad dominating most of Syria - Russia, Turkey and Iran - are unstable and have become more so as ISIS succumbed to overwhelming odds against it. Having agreed on a Syrian ceasefire in Kazakhstan, now the cracks in the coalition are showing through. Last week the Russians asked that the Iranians withdraw … Continue reading Iran Alienates Russia

Today in an extraordinarily self-obsessed leading article, Vzglyad' ru declares that "Italy has chosen a man for the removal of anti-Russian sanctions." Well, that man, Giuseppe Conti, is a lawyer with no real political experience of government and a very peculiar curriculum vitae - listing one month studying in the library of Girton College, Cambridge, … Continue reading How Self-Centred Can One Get?

Now that President Putin has a new term of office, it could have been expected that this would provide a great opportunity for fundamental change to put right what has gone wrong over the past decade and a half. Yet the old guard remains - Lavrov at the Foreign Ministry and Shoigu at Defence. The … Continue reading Russian Military Capability in Doubt

Moscow does not give up easily. The President had a long bridge built to join Russia to the Crimea and then apparently drives a large lorry from one side to the other. Perhaps Britain's Prime Minister can score a second by finally building the new railway connecting north and south of England and then drive … Continue reading Is it Worth Wedge-Driving into NATO?