For a long time, the Nordic countries saw themselves as sleekly humanitarian, peace-keeping powers.

Russia faced mounting accusations of war crimes in Ukraine Friday including forcing thousands of people into interrogation camps, as the number of refugees reported to have fled the conflict surpassed six million.The Russian invasion has also led to a seismic policy change by Finland, whose leaders said Thursday the previously neutral nation must apply to join NATO "without delay" – triggering a blunt warning of retaliation from the Kremlin.Throughout the 11-week conflict, Russian f

"Ukraine and its allies, including London, are threatening Russia for the last 1,000 years, to move NATO to our borders, to cancel our culture – they have bullied us for many, many years."That is what Yevgeny Popov, a member of the Russian Duma (parliament) and an influential TV host in Russia, told the BBC's Ukrainecast on 19 April.

In open societies, there is a close relationship between a responsible and uncensored media on the one hand and democracy and the rule of law on the other.

It is conceivable that by the end of the year NATO’s land mass, gross domestic product (GDP) and territorial borders with Russia may expand by nearly as much as they would have if Ukraine had achieved its distant goal of eventual membership of the western defence alliance – if not more.The brutal manner in which Vladimir Putin has tried to foreclose Ukraine’s security options has led to a sudden change in thinking in Finland and Sweden that has been all the more powerful since it seems to hav

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the Western world has watched with admiration how the brave Ukrainian people have resisted Vladimir Putin’s despotic evil.

As Russia flounders on the battlefields of Ukraine, the once-unthinkable possibility of nuclear weapons use is now on the rise, as President Vladimir Putin’s options for victory narrow. Tactical nuclear weapons have not been part of strategic thinking since the end of the Cold War in 1991. What are these weapons and what would be the significance of their use?What Are They? Tactical nuclear warheads were created to give military commanders more flexibility on the battlefield.

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:NATO Never 'More United': Biden United States (US) President Joe Biden says Russia's President Vladimir Putin has failed to divide the West with his war on Ukraine."NATO has never, never been more united than it is today. Putin is getting exactly the opposite of what he intended to have as a consequence of going into Ukraine," said Biden, who has landed near Poland's border with Ukraine.

We know what Russian President Vladimir Putin wants in Ukraine: to wipe the country off the map. We also know what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants: to keep Ukraine alive as a democratic state. The question is what the West wants. What is its strategic goal? So far, the West’s objectives have been framed in the negative: to avoid being drawn into a war with Russia, while still doing whatever possible to help the Ukrainians.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the West’s unprecedented response, represent a watershed in international relations, marking the formal end of the post-Cold War era and setting the stage for seismic geopolitical and geo-economic shifts.