Month: April 2025

Russia Focuses on the East

by Nina Bachkatov

Russia’s pivot to the East has been quiet yet telling, reflecting its vision of the West chasing Moscow’s influence across the globe. On 17 April, in a closed session, Russia’s Supreme Court temporarily lifted the ban on the Afghan Taliban’s activities within Russia, revoking their 2003 designation as a terrorist organisation. The decision was first communicated in Kabul by Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, to the Taliban’s Foreign Minister. Five days later, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, travelled to Kabul for a “special meeting” aimed at “removing hurdles”. The Taliban had first visited Moscow in an official capacity in November 2018, though informal channels—often involving Soviet and Afghan veterans—had remained open beforehand.

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Putin and Trump’s Gambles

By Nina Bachkatov

At a two-day NATO summit in Brussels, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent an implicit message to President Vladimir Putin. “We will know in a few weeks if Russia wants peace,” he told delegates. The meeting’s agenda focused on European security, particularly in Ukraine, and on reassuring allies unnerved by President Trump’s apparent alignment with the Kremlin’s narrative. The summit was overshadowed by “Liberation Day,” during which Trump unveiled his latest salvo in the trade wars—tariffs targeting both allies and adversaries. European goods were hit with a 20 per cent levy, Chinese imports with 34 per cent, and Ukrainian products with 10 per cent. Russia, however, was spared—officially because, as the US Treasury noted, “we have no trade with it.”

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