Eurotopics.net

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated that he would be willing to negotiate a ceasefire under certain conditions. The aim would be to pursue the 'diplomatic' liberation of the territories occupied by Russia and to place the rest of Ukraine under Nato protection, Zelensky explained in an interview. Commentators debate the significance of this statement.

The Georgian government's announcement that it will suspend the EU rapprochement process has triggered widespread protest in Georgia. Tens of thousands took to the streets at the weekend and there were violent clashes with security forces. The protesters are calling for new elections under international supervision - as was already the case after the election at the end of October. The country is once again at a crossroads.

After eight years, rebels are back in the Syrian city of Aleppo. An alliance led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swiftly seized control of the city in the north of the country. The HTS is seen as the successor to the Al-Nusra Front, which was aligned with Al-Qaeda. Syria's ruler Bashar al-Assad has already announced a counter-offensive. The latest developments threaten to reignite the civil war.

Friday's general election in Ireland seems to have changed the balance of power. The two major centre-right parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, will continue to play a decisive role in the formation of a new government, but they will need a new coalition partner because the Green Party is expected to drop from 12 seats in the lower house to just one.

Retired General Keith Kellogg is to become US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia under Donald Trump. Kellogg was security advisor for the White House during Trump's first term in office - and presented a plan last spring for ending the war in Ukraine according to which the US would bring the parties to the conflict to the negotiating table by exerting pressure on both sides.