Category Archives: Zelenskyy

Ukraine Update: Zelensky’s Term Ends on May 20. What Then??

The Economist — Time’s up—

Volodymyr Zelensky’s five-year term ends on May 20th

But he has no plans to step down or call an election during wartime

Volodymyr Zelensky


Five years
ago, on May 20th, 2019, a fresh-faced Volodymyr Zelensky began his presidency with the offer of a contract to his people. “Each of us is the president,” he said from the rostrum of parliament. “This is our joint victory and chance…and joint responsibility.”

The intervening years have not been kind, to him or Ukrainians in general. First came the crisis of Donald Trump and “Ukrainegate”, then covid-19, and then Russia’s terrifying full-scale invasion. By surviving this far, Mr Zelensky has already written himself into history. But as problems worsen on the front lines, the Ukrainian president may be about to face his biggest political challenge yet: renewing his contract with his people with no obvious possibility of elections.

Continue reading Ukraine Update: Zelensky’s Term Ends on May 20. What Then??

Ukraine’s New War Commander & the East Asian Population Bust

 

Ukraine: The Generals Are Not The Problem

God is usually on the side of the big battalions’, Voltaire allegedly said. Not always, but ‘usually’. So how much do you want to bet?

By Gwynne Dyer, in Opinion · February 12, 2024

Coming up to the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (24 February), things aren’t looking bright for the Ukrainians, and particularly for President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The war has not been going well: Ukraine’s vaunted summer offensive sputtered out with almost no gains. Russia’s winter offensive is showing equally unimpressive results so far, but the Russians always have that four-to-one numerical superiority on their side. (After all the refugees fled, there are probably no more than 35 million people left in Ukraine.) Continue reading Ukraine’s New War Commander & the East Asian Population Bust

Gwynne Dyer: Three Wars — Any Victories?

Wars have stolen our attention from a looming climate catastrophe

We’re still in the game, with a slim chance of holding global warming below a catastrophic level through the rest of the century, Gwynne Dyer writes.

By Gwynne Dyer –
Tuesday, October 31, 2023

You would think that all human energies would be focused on avoiding a potential climate calamity, including those of Russians, Ukrainians, Israelis and Palestinians. Especially the Israelis and Palestinians, whose disputed homeland would become uninhabitable by the end of the century in most “runaway” scenarios,

With practically all the media bandwidth for non-local news taken up by two tribal territorial struggles that would not have seemed out of place in the 15th century AD — or indeed the 15 century BC — you may have missed the latest release from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

That would be a pity, because it’s a lot more important than Gaza and Donetsk. The IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook is the best one-stop guide to where we are now in the attempt to keep global warming below a disastrous level.

Continue reading Gwynne Dyer: Three Wars — Any Victories?

Pope Francis and his “Secret” Ukraine Peace Mission

[NOTE: For very orthodox Catholics, the Church is at the center of history, and the Vatican  is at the center of the Church. Hence if there is some major disturbance, such as war, the Church “naturally” should have a role in ending it and repairing the damage.

But on the battlefield, it is fighting that counts: victory, defeat, stalemate — the outcome depends on weapons, valor, leadership, stamina, and, sometimes luck.  Churches come later, unless their leaders bring tanks and drones.

Thus Pope Francis, despite all the to-ing and fro-ing recounted here, is shown to be essentially a bystander, and whether he and his diplomats will have any actual role in hastening the war’s end is by no means clear.

Continue reading Pope Francis and his “Secret” Ukraine Peace Mission