Frontline: The War in Ukraine and Global Security

“The Kremlin are now talking about bringing defence expenditure down come 2026 because they've spent so much money on providing an army that isn’t really doing more than maintaining the status quo.” Putin runs Russia’s economy to the ground by spending “vast amounts of money” on futile military operations, says former House of Commons clerk Eliot Wilson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

“If you’ve been hit by 300-500 drones you get conditioned to that, so being hit by another hundred doesn’t mean that much. Of course they’re not being hit by that number because most are being shot down.” Putin’s belief that he can win the war by dropping ordinances is a “myth”, says Major General Chip Chapman as it’s just a “sullen way the Russians go about destroying things.” Hosted on Acast. Se...

"There is very little evidence that Russia is going to be able to make any sort of strategic breakthrough." Putin's attempt to take more land after Trump called for a ceasefire in 50 days is turning Russian frontlines into 'a real mess', warns Retired Air Vice Marshall Sean Bell on Frontline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Fear of how powerful Putin could be and what he could do to your country has been a very big instrument but that doesn't exist anymore. So now you see that it's being tested here and there and, that that's not good news for him." Putin risks losing satellite states and rebellious regions as Russia focusses more of its efforts on the war in Ukraine, Diane Francis tells Frontline on #timesradio Hos...

“It appears today, that instead two Patriot systems they may well be providing five Patriot systems.” Trump increases arms aid to Ukraine after his phone call with Putin backfires, says Major General Mick Ryan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“These are very sophisticated, expensive weapons, which are Ukraine’s only defence against ballistic missiles.” Trump’s promise of patriot missiles and missile interceptors to Ukraine will act as a game changer, as they are the only thing that can crush Russia’s ballistic missile attacks, says foreign policy and security analyst   Jimmy Rushton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

"Nobody's going to buy Russian oil if that piece of legislation goes through. But it's not clear that that's the policy that's going to be implemented. Trump has been resisting." The US third party sanctions package can only work if Trump doesn't water done the final policy, warns Sir Bill Browder, Head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Foundation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more info...

Donald Trump appears to be preparing to sign new sanctions on Russian oil into US law, Michael Bociurkiw tells Frontline on #timesradio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Starovoit had a lot of connections... it was portably better to just silence Starovoit.” Putin may have had a “very good reason to get rid of” Russian minister Roman Starovoit, but it has resulted in “unsettling and destabilising” consequences in Russia, says Russia expert Amy Knight. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The Ukrainians are more hardened to Russia right now, have more visceral hatred to Russians than they ever did in 2014.” Putin’s bombardment of Ukraine fails as “air campaigns like this don’t work”, says retired US Army counterintelligence special agent David DeBatto. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"We can see that Trump is getting frustrated with Putin. He understands that his high hopes of delivering a quick deal in Ukraine have just not been achieved." Trump's growing frustration with Putin and pledge tio supply more weapons to Ukraine suggests he know Putin is in a weak position, says John Lough Head of Foreign Policy at the New Eurasian Strategies Centre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...

"We are kind of breathing or breathing, rather thin air here. The Europeans have got to stop hoping that America will, step in and just get on and fill the gap." Trump's failure to push Russia into serious ceasefire talks has left Putin emboldened and able to attack Europe warns Edward Lucas, Times Columnist and European security expert. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Just because you lose something, doesn’t mean you’ll get it back again.” The Russians are failing to regain Luhansk, and even if they succeed, it does not “mark an inflection point in the campaign”, says George Barros, Russia team lead at The Institute for the Study of War. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The economy minister came out and said, ‘Look, the Central Bank has to do something here… because we are heading towards a recession.’” Putin realises the Russian people are furious as Russia’s economy faces dire consequences, says Scott Lucas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“They are taking one or two villages; that’s not going to make a difference.” Putin’s war is becoming “impossible” as Russia is not making any breakthroughs on land, says the deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia Programme and the head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, Orysia Lutsevych. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Putin's invasion continues to flounder as the Kremlin struggles to justify high casualties against high inflation and low growth in the Russian economy, says Prof. Scott Lucas on Frontline with Kate Gerbeau. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“If he is met by strength, he will back off.” “Faffing around” and “grovelling” to Trump will not deter Putin as he only respects strength, says General Sir Richard Shirreff.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“If the roundabout stops, he falls off.” Putin is becoming “more wild,” pushing too many soldiers to the front without being able to supply food or fuel, says the Evening Standard’s Robert Fox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He has now weakened Russia dramatically as a result of his invasion of Ukraine, and yet he keeps going.” Putin is at risk of “leaving the scene” after his “abnormal” activity leaves Russia too fragile to break Article 5, says former US ambassador to Nato Kurt Volker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia's worries over a recession show Putin's miscalculation over support for Ukraine has left Russia vulnerable to retaliation from Kyiv's allies says James Rogers co-founder and Director of Research at the Council on Geostrategy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Putin is showing his allies, what little there are around the world, that Russian cannot be relied upon.” Russia is not coming to Iran’s defence, despite the regime's drone supplies to the Kremlin, says senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center Michael Bociurkiw. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I think there is deep paranoia within the Russian intelligence establishment about China’s activities.” Xi may be on the verge of betraying Putin, as a leaked FSB document claims China is an “active threat” to Russia, according to Ian Williams.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The conversations amongst MPs are kind of mentioning the nuclear option more than before.” It’s “inevitable” that Ukraine will start building its own nuclear weapons through the Soviet nuclear power stations in the Western part of Ukraine, says Professor Vlad Mykhnenko. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"There is no way that the Russian spin machine and propaganda machine can spin this into anything but a flipping disaster."  Ukrainian attacks Russian military infrastructure is a "psychological blow" to Putin's "propaganda machine", says former British army colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“They may actually set off a chain reaction in Russia where everyone says, ‘Well, this guy is just a weakling.’ And if they can incite the Russian people to get to him before Putin does something really awful, that’s their best defence.” The best thing for Ukraine to do is to “continue to humiliate” Putin before he strikes back, says Sir William Browder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...