
As Ukraine peace talks stall, can Europe step up in its defence? Independent Thinking podcast
From Independent Thinking by Chatham House
February 19, 2026 · 37 min · Season 4 · Episode 23
About this episode
Chatham House analysts discuss the stalled Ukraine peace talks and Europe's potential role in providing military support amidst the ongoing conflict.
Negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war do not appear to have made significant progress. In the meantime, the focus of US President Donald Trump's 'lighthouse diplomacy' appears to have switched to Iran. Chatham House analysts discuss the state of the talks, and whether Europe will step up to provide the weapons and military support that Ukraine needs. They also examine how the Russia-Ukraine conflict fits into the wider superpower competition between the US, Russia and China. Joining host Bronwen Maddox are Grégoire Roos, director of Chatham House's Europe, Russia and Eurasia programmes; Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum; and Natalie Sabanadze, Senior Research Fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Programme. This episode comes as we look ahead to two major upcoming Chatham House events: a conversation with General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, marking four years since Russia's full-scale invasion, and our annual Security and Defence conference. Both events are now fully booked for in-person attendance, but audiences will be able to watch General Zaluzhnyi's appearance and some of the defence conference events online. Full details are available on…
People in this episode
Host: Bronwen Maddox
Guests: Grégoire Roos, Orysia Lutsevych, Natalie Sabanadze
Topics covered
- Ukraine conflict
- European defense
- US foreign policy
- Russia-Ukraine negotiations
- superpower competition
Keywords
- Ukraine
- Russia
- Europe
- defense
- peace talks
- superpower competition
- US
- Iran
- China
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Chatham House
Places: Ukraine, Russia, US, Iran, China
More episodes of Independent Thinking
- Is the shock of the US-Iran war helping Europe come together? · April 24, 2026 · 35 min
- Iran, Pope, Economy: How many battles can Trump fight at once? · April 17, 2026 · 33 min
- What lessons will China, India and other Asian nations draw from the Iran war? · April 10, 2026 · 34 min
- Why are UK energy costs so high? And how to bring them down · April 1, 2026 · 38 min
- Iran war: regional shock or global crisis? · March 27, 2026 · 30 min
- Is Iran one crisis too many for Trump? · March 20, 2026 · 36 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Independent Thinking podcast page.