Jonathan Steele

London

Freelance Correspondent at Freelance

Journalist and Author, @Guardian's former Chief Foreign Correspondent

Articles

Russia's Lavrov plans to visit Turkey amid Ukraine talks

2 months ago | middleeasteye.net | Ragip Soylu |Marco Carnelos |Jonathan Steele

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov plans to visit Turkey next week as part of his regional tour, sources familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye. Lavrov is expected to be in Ankara on 24-25 February, according to one of the sources. Earlier this week, Lavrov informed the Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, that there would be high-level talks with the Syrian government next week, which could indicate a visit by the Russian foreign minister to Syria as well.
Russia-Ukraine war: Should Europe still see the US as an ally?

2 months ago | middleeasteye.net | Jonathan Steele |Marco Carnelos

The lengthy phone call last week between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and their ensuing discussions on ending the Ukraine war, have understandably dominated global news in recent days. European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, are in a state of shock, especially after US Vice President JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference.
Turkey supports Ukraine's Nato membership: Zelensky

2 months ago | middleeasteye.net | Ragip Soylu |Jonathan Steele

Turkey supports Ukraine’s bid for Nato membership and understands the importance of security guarantees, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Turkish media on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Zelensky met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, while US officials met with their Russian counterparts in Riyadh, sidelining Kyiv and the EU as the Ukraine war approaches its third anniversary. “Erdogan understands the importance of Ukraine’s Nato membership,” Zelensky said.
Russia-Ukraine war: European leaders need to wake up to Trump's peace plan

2 months ago | middleeasteye.net | Jonathan Steele

To see European leaders in a panic over peace is not a pretty sight. As they rushed to Paris this week to talk about Donald Trump’s Ukrainian ideas with France's President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the leaders of Germany, Poland and other allies resembled nothing more dignified than a bunch of headless chickens.
Russia-Ukraine war: Ordinary citizens want peace. Their leaders should listen

Dec 1, 2024 | middleeasteye.net | Jonathan Steele

Believe it or not, the war in Ukraine has produced some good news. An opinion poll just published by Gallup shows that a majority of Ukrainians want peace talks to start as soon as possible. To give the exact figure, some 52 percent of the people who were questioned rejected the insistence on fighting until military victory over Russia, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and western governments have made the cornerstone of their policy.
Twilight of the Soviet Union - review

Aug 18, 2024 | redpepper.org.uk | Jonathan Steele

Title: Twilight of the Soviet Union: Memoirs of a Moscow correspondentAuthor: Kate ClarkPublisher: Bannister publicationsYear: 2023Twilight of the Soviet Union is a lively read – and something of a rarity. Many books have been written about the Soviet Union’s demise but few authors come at the subject from a socialist perspective and with regret that the experiment to combine state economic intervention with democratic politics did not succeed.
Peter Reddaway obituary

Aug 11, 2024 | theguardian.com | Jonathan Steele

No one outside Russia did more to publicise the plight of Soviet human rights activists and political protesters than Peter Reddaway, a British American academic, who has died aged 84. Known as dissidents and numbering only in dozens, they played a major role in highlighting the repression of independent thinkers in the Soviet Union. Reddaway was one of their first foreign champions.
Portugal’s Carnation Revolution - archive, April 1974

Apr 24, 2024 | inkl.com | Jonathan Steele |James MacManus |Antonio de Figueirdo

An almost bloodless military coup yesterday toppled the Portuguese prime minister, Dr Marcello Caetano, and left the country in the hands of a junta pledged to restore civil liberties after almost 50 years of dictatorial rule.
Hella Pick obituary

Apr 4, 2024 | theguardian.com | Jonathan Steele

As one of the first female diplomatic correspondents in the British media, Hella Pick, who has died aged 96, was at the centre of the Guardian’s coverage of superpower summitry in the final decades of the cold war. Tall and elegant, she was a commanding presence at press conferences with world leaders, and also had a rare ability – based on her careful and intelligent reporting – to win the confidence of powerful politicians and get privileged access for interviews and background briefings.
Keys to automating commercial auto insurance compliance

Mar 18, 2024 | dig-in.com | Jonathan Steele

It's no secret that costs remain sky high in the automotive industry. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the average cost of owning and operating a vehicle has continued to rise over the past two decades. Purchasing costs for new vehicles have soared since 2021, while car repair costs are up almost 20% over the past year. That's simply two variables.