A FTER WEEKS of nebulous ceasefire talks at the urging of a semi-engaged President Donald Trump, the war between Russia and Ukraine is intensifying again in savage style and with escalating stakes. In the last two weeks there have been record-breaking Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and spectacular Ukrainian drone raids on Russia’s strategic bomber force,

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging NATO eastwards, according to reports.

In the aftermath of Ukraine’s audacious “Operation Spider’s Web”, which claimed as many as 41 of Russia’s military jets in drone attacks on four airbases across the country last Sunday, Vladimir Putin vowed revenge.