Author: James Horncastle, Assistant Professor and Edward and Emily McWhinney Professor in International Relations, Simon Fraser University

The United States says Ukraine has agreed to its proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia following three years of war. The announcement followed peace talks in Saudi Arabia, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled on March 10, and is a remarkable turn of events. The ball is now in Russia’s court in terms of whether it accepts the ceasefire proposal. Zelenskyy’s recent shouting match with U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance in the White House, at a surface level, could not have gone much worse from the Ukrainian leader’s perspective. Both Trump and Vance subjected Zelenskyy to…

Ukraine recently launched a long-range drone strike on a Russian ammunition depot in the Tver region of Russia. Ukraine followed up the strike with additional drone strikes near Tver and Krasnador. These strikes were notable for two reasons. First, the destruction may represent Ukraine’s most successful drone strikes in the current phase of the Russia-Ukraine war. Second, Toropets, where the first strike took place, is approximately 480 kilometres from the Russia-Ukraine border. The success of the attack has caused considerable elation among Ukraine’s supporters. The drone strikes, however, will not fundamentally alter the current battlefield. But they are part of…