Nina Kuryata

London

Ukraine and Defence Editor at Tortoise

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Articles

US ambassadors to war zones come and go

1 week ago | tortoisemedia.com | Nina Kuryata

Spare a thought for Bridget Brink as she thinks about what to do next having resigned last week as US ambassador to Ukraine because of what the FT calls policy disagreements with Donald Trump. She’s a career diplomat reportedly pressured by administration officials who “questioned her willingness” to support their Ukraine strategy – to end the war as soon as possible and to normalise US relations with Russia.
Putin prefers war - and not just in Ukraine

1 week ago | tortoisemedia.com | Nina Kuryata

Far from seeking a ceasefire, he’s waging hybrid war on all of Europe Last Friday, Steve Witkoff made his third trip to Moscow as Donald Trump’s envoy in search of progress towards an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine, and Trump evinced frustration that there isn’t any. So what? He shouldn’t be surprised. There is little evidence Putin wants to stop fighting and plenty that he wants to carry on. Almost as troubling is the evidence that he’s already engaged in a hybrid war on Europe as a whole. Hot war.
Merz keeps AfD out of power

2 weeks ago | tortoisemedia.com | Nina Kuryata

Germany’s incoming chancellor has formed a grand coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, straddling the political centre and keeping the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) out of power – even though polls show it now has the biggest following of any party. Friedrich Merz said voters have been sent a clear signal he’ll lead a “strong government”, which he says will focus on migration, defence and the economy.
Zelensky says Chinese soldiers caught fighting for Russia

2 weeks ago | tortoisemedia.com | Nina Kuryata

Hours after President Zelensky publicly acknowledged that the Ukrainian army was operating in the Belgorod region of Russia, he made another announcement: his soldiers had captured two Chinese citizens fighting “as part of the Russian army” in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Zelensky said identity documents, bank cards and personal data were found in their possession.
Sea and energy ceasefires are good deals for Russia

4 weeks ago | tortoisemedia.com | Nina Kuryata

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea, a potential step towards a lasting peace but far short of the comprehensive agreement the US wanted. The ceasefire is conditional, Moscow stresses, on the US restoring Russia’s access to the global market for agricultural and fertiliser experts, as well to ports and payment systems. Which is to say some sanctions will need to be lifted. What does Ukraine get in return?
Ukraine peace talks march to the beat of Russian bombs

1 month ago | tortoisemedia.com | Nina Kuryata

While delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the US held separate talks about bringing peace to the Black Sea, Moscow attacked children’s hospitals and kindergartens in Ukraine’s Sumy region, injuring 65 people. This followed a weekend drone attack on Kyiv that killed a 5-year-old girl, her father and an 80-year-old woman who was burned alive.
Russia threatens to deport Ukrainians from Ukraine

1 month ago | tortoisemedia.com | Nina Kuryata

Ukrainian citizens “illegally staying” in Russia for more than 90 days, including those living in occupied regions of Ukraine, will have to leave by 10 September or “legalise their stay”, according to a new decree from Vladimir Putin. This means Ukrainian residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhya and Kherson regions of Ukraine – described as part of Russia in the updated Russian constitution – may be forced to get Russian passports or be expelled from their homes.
Trump suggests US nuclear takeover in Ukraine

1 month ago | tortoisemedia.com | Nina Kuryata

Donald Trump has suggested to Volodymyr Zelensky that the US take over and run Ukraine’s nuclear power plants as part of a peace deal. In a summary of an hour-long call between the two men – their first known contact since their disastrous Oval Office meeting last month – the US Secretary of State said Trump’s thinking was that American ownership of the plants would help protect them.
Putin denies Trump the ceasefire he wants

1 month ago | tortoisemedia.com | Nina Kuryata

After a two-hour call between the US and Russian presidents, two versions of what was said: according to the White House Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agreed on a 30-day “energy and infrastructure ceasefire” and on technical negotiations for a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea. The Kremlin focused on Russia’s conditions: a halt to “forced mobilisation” in Ukraine and the arming of its forces.
Trump’s strategy for Ukraine is to surrender

1 month ago | tortoisemedia.com | Nina Kuryata |Chloe Hadjimatheou

“We’ll be talking about land. A lot of land is a lot different than it was before the war, as you know.” Donald Trump, speaking before a phone call he plans to have with Vladimir Putin today. So what? He was essentially repeating Putin’s line that ceasefire talks should be based on the “reality on the ground” – ie on the illegal annexation of nearly 20 per cent of Ukraine.