WHERE DOES TRUMP'S DEFEAT IN THE MIDTERMS LEAVE UKRAINE?
In his latest Lowdown podcast, Nick Cohen talks to Jimmy Rushton, the British journalist and Kyiv-based security analyst, about the current state of the war in Ukraine and the role of the Trump administration in foreign policy. Jimmy describes a chaotic US diplomatic process where amateurish Trump acolytes like John Cole, Jared Kushner, and Steve Witkoff allegedly operate outside official State Department channels, sometimes pursuing personal commercial interests. He highlights a specific instance where Cole reportedly pressured Lithuania to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash without broad administration support. Jimmy and Nick also cover the dire conditions in Kyiv, including frequent power outages and Russian drone strikes on infrastructure. Jimmy Rushton details the high Russian casualty rates and the internal pressure within the Russian military to report false successes to Putin. Jimmy contrasts this with the Ukrainian military's shift toward NATO-style command under new leadership. The chat concludes with a broader look at the "axis of evil" involving Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea, and the ongoing challenges of Western political will and deterrence.
@JimmySecUK is a Kyiv based foreign policy/security analyst Currently focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Jimmy is also Special Correspondent @KyivIndependent
Nick Cohen's @NichCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond.
","author_name":"Nick Cohen"}