Putin’s new-old police state: Journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan write in Foreign Affairs that, “in its sweeping reach into domestic society, foreign affairs and the military, the FSB has begun to look less like its late-Soviet predecessor, the KGB.“The notion that defeating Putin could reverse 16 straight years of global democratic decline simply doesn't hold up,” he writes. Victory in Ukraine won’t save democracy worldwide: Carnegie’s Steven Feldstein argues that the “ pathologies underlying democratic decay” come from within the countries they’re afflicting and are “largely disconnected” from actions by Russia and China.They have replaced Ukrainian currency with the ruble, rerouted the internet through Russian servers and arrested hundreds who have resisted assimilation.” Next up? “Grass-roots” referenda on joining Russia, possibly as early as September. Meanwhile, New York Times reporters describe what pro-Russia authorities in occupied Ukraine are doing on the ground: “They have handed out Russian passports, cellphone numbers and set-top boxes for watching Russian television. Creeping Russification in occupied Ukraine: Last week a Russian lawmaker said “ integrating new territories” into Russia’s “legal space” could be high on parliament’s agenda next term.
conference to review the world’s major non-proliferation treaty, saying there could be no winners in any nuclear war. president announced that his administration was ready to “expeditiously” negotiate a new framework to replace the New START Treaty when it expires in 2026, a Russian diplomat asked Reuters: “Has the White House website been hacked?” But Russian President Vladimir Putin struck a conciliatory tone as diplomats gathered for a month-long U.N. Russia stumped by Biden proposal to replace nuclear arms treaty: After the U.S.