Wednesday 18 February 2026 There is a phrase often heard in diplomatic corridors when wars grind on without decisive victory — that one must not allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good. In the case of Ukraine, as she enters yet another year of total war against the Russian Federation, the temptation to reach for the ‘good’ — a ceasefire, a frozen line of contact, a resumption of trade, a lowering of the daily toll of casualties — grows stronger amongst external powe

Wednesday 18 February 2026 In the long tradition of American statecraft, respect was never merely a matter of etiquette — it was an instrument of power. It was the invisible architecture that allowed adversaries to speak without endorsing one another, and allies to disagree without rupture. In recent years, however, a marked erosion of respect has come to characterise politics in the United States — both internally, amongst rival factions, and externally, in the language some

By Matthew Parish Partner, Intermarium Legal and Vertex Immigration, Kyiv +380 98 467 4579 (WhatsApp) Wednesday 18 February 2026 Immigration to Ukraine during wartime is possible but investment and professional opportunities are few and the best way to move to the country is as a volunteer employee of a Ukrainian non-governmental organisation. This provides you with the opportunity to become a temporary resident, leading after five years to permanent residency and the possibi

By Kathrin Franziska Beck Wednesday 18 February 2026 It is a freezing cold evening in Ivano-Frankivsk. I am standing by a window in a corner room of a hotel, looking out onto the street. Long before the curfew begins, this neighbourhood lies eerily dark; all the streetlights have gone out due to a power cut. Only rarely do passing cars illuminate the area; without them, it would be easy to forget you are in a city of more than 230,000 inhabitants. From another window, I am lo