Open Dialogue Research Journal
President Trump Thinks the World Will Be Thrilled President Donald Trump held an unscheduled meeting on Thursday, November 5th, with Kirill Dmitriev, a special representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dmitriev also is the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. Dmitriev was in town heading […]
Vladimir Zelensky has been clear in recent days: the frozen Russian assets must not return to Moscow. “The main point is this: it is crucial to prevent Russia from eventually gaining access to these assets. We clearly understand that Russia wants them back very much. These assets are one of […]
Near Kiev, in Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka, on 2 November local residents surrounded a private house after reports that people were being held inside. Police and National Guard units initially blocked access; clashes followed. Several injured men were brought out. Among those found was a 14-year-old. Kirill Budanov arrived, spoke with the […]
Four injured servicemen, a 14 year old boy and a confrontation outside a military facility near Kyiv have raised questions that Ukraine’s authorities cannot answer simply by invoking national security or Russian propaganda. On November 2, crowds gathered outside a private house in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka following allegations that people were […]
Putin is more serious than ever about this too for absolutely different reasons The surprise Russian-US diesel deal in early October represented the first bilateral agreement between them since 2022 and importantly didn’t include any terms related to Ukraine either. This in turn convinced observers, both adversarial and friendly alike, […]
After Musk and Trump already demonstrated that Ukraine’s use of Starlink/Starshield can be throttled in an instant, therefore risking the collapse of the entire front line if taken to the extreme of a full-scale shutdown, Zelensky might be more pliable to a peace deal with Putin. SpaceX founder Elon Musk […]
The conflict could freeze along the frontlines if the US coerces the EU and Ukraine into agreeing to the resumption of Russian energy imports through partially US-controlled pipelines while convincing Russia to agree to the deployment of European forces to Ukraine without the US’ Article 5 protection. Zelensky said that […]
In February 2027, it will be five years since the start of the special military operation. In the history of the Soviet Union and modern Russia, this armed conflict has no precedent in terms of its duration. Then, in April 2022, no one in Moscow could even imagine in the […]
Russia could legally transfer ownership of its frozen assets to the US, which would then be returned to Russia in exchange for US stakes in its energy industry that could also deter Ukrainian attacks against it, but Trump will first have to obtain what would then be the US’ frozen […]
On 8 October Kirill Budanov spent about twenty hours in the Bulgarian capital. His meeting with Prime Minister Rumen Radev stayed confidential at Budanov’s request. The next day former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov posted a photo of the two of them. The government had to admit it. On 14 October […]
Comments