Originally published on Jan 28, 2026.

Did peace deals fail by accident, or were they just used to buy time for war? Is the European Union using this crisis to take power away from its own member states? And why does admitting this is a proxy war actually offer the best hope for peace?I dig into these questions with Dr. György Varga, a Hungarian diplomat who saw the build-up to this fight with his own eyes. As the former head of the OSCE mission on the Russian border, he spent four years watching the situation get worse before the invasion started. He brings a rare, on-the-ground view of why diplomacy failed and what the West got wrong.Links:Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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