Lindsey Hilsum
The mood music coming out of Iran nuclear talks in Lausanne may be positive, but there are more variations to be played through before a harmonious finale can be achieved.
Jonathan Rugman
The diplomatic chill is deepening ahead of Crimea’s vote on joining Russia. And the tougher the west gets, the more intransigent the Russians could become.
Gary Gibbon
US and EU diplomacy to end the Ukraine crisis is being undermined by the lack of appetite among some countries for any course of action that might influence Russia’s next moves.
Lindsey Hilsum
Sergei Lavrov says the military fatigues who have taken over Ukrainian military bases in Crimea are not Russian soldiers. One colonel tells me: “It’s a lie.”
Gary Gibbon
The next two days see a Nato meeting, a meeting of foreign ministers, and an EU gathering. Will countries with widely differing agendas on Ukraine be able to find a way forward?
Lindsey Hilsum
After August’s chemical attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, prospects for peace in Syria looked remote. But then Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart, John Kerry, managed to pull the world back from the brink.
Jonathan Rugman
Why have all the powers involved in trying to resolve the Syria crisis – the US, Russia, France and Britain – so singularly failed to exhaust diplomatic avenues to avoid conflict?