Often caught talking at cross purposes.
EPA/Sven Hoppe
The Russian economy might be hurting, but the government’s social contract stands firm against a divided West.
Standing firm.
EPA/Matthias Schrader
The situation in is Ukraine deteriorating, but the G7 powers apparently have nothing to add.
Learn from the master.
EA/Yuri Kochetkov
Russian readers are unlikely to believe a narrative that is paid for by Western governments.
Ukraine is making no headway, even after a ceasefire deal.
EPA/Irina Gorbasyova
Both sides appear to be breaking the terms of the ceasefire, while the people of Ukraine struggle to survive.
Hey sup.
EPA/Alexei Nikolsky/Ria Novosti/Kremlin
As the West and Russia go about rooting out each other’s spies, they also lose the ability to keep tabs on each other. Time to get back in touch.
Not all eyes are on the prize: Eurovision is often as much about undeclared alliances, voting blocs and political paybacks.
Andres Putting (EBU)/Eurovision
For the first time, Australians can vote for this year’s Eurovision winner. But it’s as much a political battlefield as a song contest – so hopefully the Russians have forgotten the “shirtfront”.
Weaker than he seems.
EPA/Yuri Kochetkov
Putin is superficially more popular than ever, but his extravagantly militaristic policy and Russia’s economic isolation mean he’s walking a tightrope.
Vladimir Putin has his own geopolitical priorities.
EPA/Alexei Druginyn/RIA Novosti/Kremlin Pool
Reports that Russia would use nuclear weapons if NATO continues to push into the Baltic states are misleading.and mischievous.
Maybe they just haven’t noticed I’m here…?
EPA/Tatyana Zenkovich
Vladimir Putin burned a lot of bridges in Ukraine, so he’s finding new sources of international support wherever he can.
Putin’s pals are pushing his buttons.
EPA/Maxim Shipenkov
Rivalry between the Russian president’s allies could be making his life hard.
Mission accomplished? Protesters outside the European parliament in Brussels.
Greensefa
Europe was supposed to be big business for fracking companies, but so far not so good. So what’s going wrong?
Backstairs politics: Kevin Spacey and Lars Mikkelsen.
Netflix
The West’s most popular political drama has finally started taking Russia seriously – a measure of how much Putin has changed the game.
Moscow remembers: the Nemtsov memorial march.
EPA/Sergei Ilnitsky
Russians took to the streets in their thousands to protest the murder of Boris Nemtsov – but can popular dissent withstand deadly intimidation?
Brinkmanship is back.
Pipeline image via www.shutterstock.com
As tensions run high over Russia’s gas supplies to the Ukraine, and by extension parts of Europe, the reality for the EU is less than perfect: it will need Russian gas for the foreseeable future.
Observing the MH17 crash site.
EPA/Alexander Ermochenko
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the only hope for neutral information about what’s going on in Eastern Ukraine.
The FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile is the sort of ‘lethal defensive weapon’ the US may consider supplying to Ukraine.
Wikimedia Commons/US Army
Barack Obama is considering supplying “lethal defensive weapons” to Ukraine. But how meaningful is that description? There are simply “weapons”, all of which can be used for defence or for aggression.
Not the road to peace.
EPA/Anastasia Vlasova
The second Minsk agreement is being implemented in fits and starts, but outbreaks of violence show Ukraine is still on a knife-edge.
Despite a cease fire, military activities continue in Ukraine.
Gleb Garanich/Reuters
US and European policy is pushing Russia into China’s arms.
They didn’t call it ‘Euromaidan’ for nothing.
EPA/Sergey Dolzhenko
Fairly or not, the European Union’s foreign policy has been an international laughing stock for two decades. But Ukraine is changing that.
‘And steer left to see Jamaica Inn’.
EPA
Russia has long taken day trips in Europe but it is ratcheting up its schedule.