Roman Sheremeta
June 6, 2026
Putin met with former German Chancellor Schröder face-to-face.
At this point, nobody should be surprised.
For years, Schröder served as one of Putin’s most valuable assets in the West. While millions of Europeans believed they were building peace through economic cooperation, the Kremlin was building leverage, influence, and dependency.
The result was catastrophic. Germany became dependent on russian energy, and Europe helped Putin grow his war machine.
Ukraine repeatedly warned that Nord Stream was not an economic project but a geopolitical weapon. Those warnings were ignored.
Today, after hundreds of thousands of casualties, destroyed cities, abducted children, and countless war crimes, Schröder is back in Moscow.
History should remember that Putin did not build his influence in Europe alone. He had help: politicians, executives, lobbyists, and intellectuals who convinced themselves that profit was more important than principles.
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What I Learned at the NATO Strategic Communications Conference in Riga
Last week I traveled to Riga, Latvia, to participate in the opening panel of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence conference. The central question of our discussion was straightforward: can peace negotiations with Russia produce lasting security and deterrence in Europe?
The conversation brought together military leaders, diplomats, communication experts, policymakers, and scholars from across NATO member states. Whenever I attend events like this, I try to pay attention not only to what is being said publicly, but to the assumptions shaping the discussion. Several things stood out.
Read the full article on my Substack:
https://open.substack.com/pub/economicsofpower/p/what-i-learned-at-the-nato-strategic
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Ukraine is capable of targeting Russian civilians the way Russia does. In fact, Russia can reserve more of its air defenses for military and energy targets because Ukraine doesn’t do so. Murdering innocents is a choice Russia makes every day.
Garry Kasparov
This grease rag and the blood-sucking tick called Merkel have been Germany’s absolute worst leaders since Adolf Hitler. They were disasters not only for Germany but also for Europe.