Audacity or desperation? Ukraine claims Moscow killing of Russian general

François PICARD | Rebecca GNIGNATI | Elisa AMIRI | Claude BLANCHEMAISON | Samantha DE BENDERN | Gulliver CRAGG | John HARDIE

Edité par France 24 - 2024

Russia may seem exposed and weak, but time is not on Volodymyr Zelensky's side. The Ukrainian president is making the rounds at NATO headquarters, as the Alliance prepares for the return of a Donald Trump who's talked up a deal to end the war; an agreement that could redraw national boundaries in Moscow's favour.

Simply put, which is weaker: a Ukraine exhausted by a decade of fighting, or a Russia that's had to pivot to a wartime economy and still ask for Iranian drones and North Korean reinforcements? In the middle, there's Europe, which is divided over how much it’s going to have to invest in assistance and defence spending for what lies ahead.

Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri and Ilayda Habip.

Note
  • The killing in the heart of Moscow of Vladimir Putin's general in charge of chemical weapons comes on the eve of the Russian president's traditional marathon end-of-year press conference. Putin is so far yet to comment on his country's precipitated drawdown from Syria after the fall of Assad, but he's sure to opine on the death of under-sanctions General Igor Kirillov, what with the arrest of an Uzbek suspect who's confessed to working for Ukraine.

Langue
anglais
Date de publication
18/12/2024
Collection
The Debate
Contributeurs
Claude BLANCHEMAISON Former French Ambassador to Russia
Samantha DE BENDERN Associate Fellow at Chatham House
Gulliver CRAGG FRANCE 24 correspondent
John HARDIE Deputy Director, Russia Program, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

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