@portnikov.bsky.social
Ukrainian author and journalist. Espreso TV. Radio Liberty. Visegrad Insight Fellow. Ukrainian PEN
But Trump is underestimating Putin. For the Russian president, any concession by his opponent is a sign of weakness — and a cue to press harder.
open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
But in truth, the entire period from 1914 to 1945 was a single war period — with two massive eruptions. It wasn’t four years. It was thirty.
And now, we are living through a similarly extended wartime era in the history of Europe — and the world. open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
But now — from Putin himself — we know for sure that we need to stop not just the war, but the genocide approved and sanctioned in the Kremlin. That is why the pressure on Russia must increase open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
02.12.2025 10:18 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
peace plans that humiliate Ukraine and reward Russia for its brutal and unprovoked aggression only encourage Putin to continue the war open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
24.11.2025 07:29 — 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Because let’s be honest: if someone truly wants peace, they agree to a ceasefire.
Then they sit down to talk.
Putin has refused a ceasefire.
That refusal is not just a policy choice — it’s a signal. It tells us everything we need to know.
open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
The longer Donald Trump refrains from such leadership, the clearer the risk that the world will slide toward large-scale war. In that scenario, given contemporary realities and technological changes, the U.S. risks becoming not just an arbiter but a battlefield. open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
29.09.2025 17:14 — 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
The managed escalation is no longer about Ukraine alone. It is about remaking the balance of power, one humiliation at a time. And with each red line crossed, Putin’s confidence grows — matched only by the West’s silence. open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
22.09.2025 14:49 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
That is why I say — without exaggeration — that the frontline which will run for years between Ukrainian and Russian armies is not only a military boundary. It is also becoming the civilizational border of China. open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
21.09.2025 15:09 — 👍 6 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Donald Trump’s return to the White House is itself a precondition for a major war. He is dismantling the system of alliances that for decades restrained chaos.
open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
The information campaign surrounding the resignation of Dmitry Kozak from the Russian presidential administration once again exposes the vulnerability of both Ukrainian and Western media spaces to Kremlin manipulation. open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
18.09.2025 15:01 — 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Which means that if it turns out the West lacks an effective judiciary—the judiciary, not just free media—then disobedient journalists will soon disappear not only from Trump’s press conferences but from America
open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
Putin made mistakes — classic Putin-style mistakes.
open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
And to restore the Soviet Union, Russia first and foremost needs Ukraine. We see it clearly — in the war now raging on Ukrainian soil. Without Ukraine, the Russian Federation does not see itself as a European power. open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
26.07.2025 15:00 — 👍 8 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
From the Kremlin’s point of view, Azerbaijan is a territory that will eventually lose its statehood and become part of an empire that Russia is actively trying to resurrect. Not as a fantasy — as a concrete political project.
open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
I keep wondering whether this is due to political short-sightedness and incompetence — or if it’s simply the result of vested business interests,with certain circles eager to profit from deals with China, even if it means sacrificing Ukraine’s sovereignty and future open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
21.07.2025 09:09 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
So yes — Trump’s frustration with the “set” he built around Putin is our opportunity. And it would be a sin not to take advantage of it. open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
15.07.2025 09:07 — 👍 8 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
If the West again chooses “peace” over justice, we will end up like Bosnia — fractured, dysfunctional, forever haunted. If Russia is rewarded for its crimes, if Putin gets to dictate terms, then Bucha becomes our Srebrenica. And the world will forget us too.
open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
Today, the scale of Putin’s bombing campaign seems designed to push the West toward legitimizing the results of Russia’s crimes and annexations as well. But even if concessions to Putin turn Ukraine into another Bosnia, it won’t prevent another war. open.substack.com/pub/portniko...
11.07.2025 14:34 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The main thing about the meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan is that bilateral negotiations without mediators took place at all. And that there was no shadow of Putin behind both participants.
youtu.be/R9u-LK99Pq8
Putin wants not only to occupy more Ukrainian territory, but also to force the Ukrainians to surrender. This is the main goal of shelling peaceful Ukrainian cities.
youtu.be/K4qoyRc8nik
Marco Rubio's first meeting with Sergey Lavrov after Trump's disappointment with Putin ended with talks about some new approach to war
«Новий підхід» до війни | Віталій Портников
youtu.be/1ko_dyfrD_k
Vitalii’s Substack
portnikov.substack.com?r=mrti1&utm_...
Russia’s summer offensive stalls across all fronts. Is Putin's grand plan collapsing before our eyes?
youtu.be/VIRF_7plq1Y
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Donald Trump is ready to come to his country to meet with Vladimir Putin to resolve the issue of ending the Russian-Ukrainian war. However, it is unlikely that Putin needs such a meeting.
youtu.be/wnjbBWN_9I8
Putin continues to feign readiness for negotiations and insist on the legality of the occupation of Ukrainian territories. This is his tactic towards Trump.
youtu.be/mIWPjbhqe-4
The second day of war in the Middle East marks a dangerous turning point. Iran threatens retaliation against Western forces, while proxy groups and missile strikes raise fears of a wider regional conflict.
youtu.be/3a4Ib0zT-Mo
What Israel and Ukraine have demonstrated is not simply ingenuity. It is necessity. And the longer Western democracies fail to absorb this lesson, the more fragile their own security will become. blogs.timesofisrael.com/ukraine-isra...
13.06.2025 14:36 — 👍 8 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
The world is on the brink of a major war in the Middle East, with rising tensions between the U.S., Iran, and Israel. As nuclear risks escalate and diplomacy collapses, global attention may shift away from Ukraine — just as authoritarian regimes like Russia stand to benefit.
youtu.be/maimk_RVPe0
A top Russian negotiator revives threats of territorial losses for Ukraine if it rejects ultimatums.But behind this narrative lies a deeper obsession — a false imperial myth about “one people,”used to justify war,deny Ukrainian sovereignty,and rewrite history to suit propaganda
youtu.be/XA69VFre16o
Putin’s virtual meeting of Russia’s Security Council, framed as a response to Ukraine but focused on “traditional values.” Behind this rhetoric lies a deeper message: an appeal to the far right in the West and a warning — choose Russia as a partner, or face war.
youtu.be/75NUq9hLfC8
