The Foreign Desk

Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko became an unexpected major player in the apparent resolution of the dispute between Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group and the Russian state. What does Belarus have to gain (and lose) from backing Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine? Andrew Mueller speaks to John Everard, Hanna Liubakova and Andrei Sannikov.

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Andrew Mueller considers the reasons why Wagner Group Chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, aborted his mutiny so quickly and what might happen next. 

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National leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation are gearing up for the alliance’s high-stakes summit next month in Lithuania. How has the war in Ukraine transformed Nato? And what comes next? Andrew Mueller speaks to Ingrida Simonyte, prime minister of Lithuania; Benedetta Berti-Alberti, head of policy planning in the Office of the Secretary-General at Nato; Kersti Kaljulaid, former president of Estonia; and Swedish political scientist Anna Wieslander.

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Andrew Mueller explains the recent trip of African leaders to Ukraine and Russia, and assesses whether it made any difference in terms of helping to end the war.

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Almost 16 months since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war shows no signs of ending. How long will the conflict last – and is the West actually afraid of a Ukrainian victory? Andrew Mueller sits down with General Philip Breedlove, Nato’s former supreme allied commander Europe, General Sir Richard Shirreff, Nato’s former deputy supreme allied commander Europe, and Russian opposition politician Vladimir Milov.

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Following Trump’s historic court appearance in Miami, Andrew Mueller explains the former US president’s growing laundry list of legal trouble and what it means for him politically.

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As the war in Ukraine rages on, calls for EU enlargement have returned to the top of the political agenda. To explore the future of European integration, the team travels to the Globsec 2023 Bratislava Forum to speak to European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s minister of foreign affairs, Elmedin Konaković, and journalist Suzanne Lynch.

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A pilot from New Zealand has been taken hostage in Indonesia. Andrew Mueller explains who his captors are and what they want.

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With no end in sight to the bloody war in Ukraine, we ask what lessons can be drawn for parallel conflicts in Taiwan and Belarus. In a special episode recorded at the Globsec 2023 Bratislava Forum, Andrew Mueller speaks to Roy Chun Lee, Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister; Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Belarus’s opposition leader; and Hanna Hopko, a Ukrainian politician.

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At least 25 Nato soldiers and 52 Serb civilians have been hurt during violent clashes in northern Kosovo this week. Andrew Mueller explains what has led to this confrontation.

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