The Atlantic Council is a Washington-based foreign-policy think tank closely aligned with NATO and the transatlantic security establishment, although institutionally independent of NATO. It promotes cooperation between North America and Europe on security, economic, and geopolitical affairs.

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It is not difficult to debunk portrayals of Zelenskyy as the main obstacle to peace. In reality, the Ukrainian leader has agreed to every single ceasefire proposal put forward by the American side, while Moscow has rejected them all. Crucially, he has offered major territorial concessions that would allow Russia to retain control over almost a quarter of Ukraine. Zelenskyy has also repeatedly declared his readiness to meet face-to-face with Putin anywhere in the world to negotiate an end to the war, only for the Russian ruler to firmly decline. It should be clear to any objective observer that Ukraine’s wartime leader is actively seeking pathways to peace.

Most Ukrainians are in no doubt that Putin ultimately intends to destroy their country, and regard Western talk of limited Russian territorial ambitions as hopelessly naive. They have grown accustomed to the genocidal anti-Ukrainian messaging that dominates wartime Russia’s public discourse, and take it for granted that the Kremlin’s end goal is a Ukraine without Ukrainians.

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“Most of the victims of sexual violence were men, particularly in places of detention, but women and children were also affected, primarily in occupied territory of Ukraine. The violations committed include gang rape, rape, genital mutilation, electric shocks and beatings to the genitals, and other degrading acts of a sexual nature. The youngest documented rape survivor was a four-year-old-girl and the oldest an 82-year-old woman, with both cases perpetrated by Russian authorities.”

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The Spanish government has reportedly begun telling state-backed firms to avoid signing new contacts with US billionaire Peter Thiel’s company.

It comes amid fears that sensitive national security information could be leaked, according to Spanish publication El Confidencial.