Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies

Most recently, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, called President Putin a humanitarian on October 21st for releasing an American held in Russia.

For today's archive, I chose an episode from November 22nd, 2024, in which Lawfare Ukraine fellow Anastasia Lopatina sat down with Fabian Hoffmann, a senior research fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies in Oslo, to discuss the U.S. decision under the Biden administration to allow Ukraine to use Western long-range weapons for attacks inside Russia.

It's the Lawfare podcast.

I'm Anastasia Lopatina, Ukraine fellow at Lawfare, with Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo, who focuses on missile technology and nuclear strategy.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Sibyha told reporters that flows of US military intelligence had continued, and at the Warsaw Security Forum pointed to the category of weapon Russia deployed as the reason behind the warning delay.

Fabian Hoffmann, a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies specialising in missile systems, said Ukraine's European partners have a constrained capacity to substitute the satellite-based early warning data the United States provides, a capability he described as unmatched globally and dependent entirely on American infrastructure.

The Kremlin's spokesperson, when asked about the energy ceasefire, confirmed only that talks between the parties remained active, offering nothing further.

Sibihar argued that Washington's request for a pause in strikes on Russian oil facilities reflected a shift in Ukraine's negotiating position – contrasting it with a remark attributed to Trump, made during a tense White House encounter with Zelensky, that Ukraine held no leverage.