Putin Has Long Wanted More Power in Europe. Trump Could Grant It.

Putin Has Long Wanted More Power in Europe. Trump Could Grant It.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia shocked the audience at the annual security conference in Munich in 2007 by demanding the rollback of domineering American influence and a new balance of power in Europe more suitable to Moscow. He didn’t get what he wanted — then. Nearly two decades later, …

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Trump’s Whirlwind Now Blows Through Europe

Trump’s Whirlwind Now Blows Through Europe

The great collision has begun. As President Trump’s national security team arrived in Europe this week, very little about their hard-line message came as a surprise. But to the political and diplomatic leaders arriving in Munich on Friday for an annual security conference where fault lines in the Western alliance …

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Warming Trend in U.S.-Russia Relations Leaves Ukraine in a Tough Spot

Warming Trend in U.S.-Russia Relations Leaves Ukraine in a Tough Spot

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was already facing a daunting week as foreign officials gathered in Europe for talks about his country’s future. The Trump administration was demanding $500 billion in Ukrainian mineral rights, it canceled Ukraine’s exemption from U.S. tariffs on steel, and a leading American skeptic of military …

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Hegseth Says Return to Ukraine’s Prewar Borders Is ‘Unrealistic’

Hegseth Says Return to Ukraine’s Prewar Borders Is ‘Unrealistic’

A return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is “an unrealistic objective” and an “illusionary goal” in the peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia that President Trump wants to accomplish, Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, said on Wednesday at a meeting of countries supporting Ukraine. In his first meeting that included …

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West Bank Settlers Hope Trump Will Back Annexation Dreams

West Bank Settlers Hope Trump Will Back Annexation Dreams

Eliana Passentin delights in her house, which sits nearly 3,000 feet above sea level in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, with a view from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean coast. The dining room looks out over ancient Shiloh, the Israelites’ first capital in ancient times. But …

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