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Ian Proud

Ian Proud was a member of HM Diplomatic Service from 1999 to 2023. From July 2014 to February 2019 Ian was posted to the British Embassy in Moscow. He was also Director of the Diplomatic Academy for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Anglo-American School of Moscow.

all articles

May 20, 2025
Why China, Russia, and even Israel prevail against external pressure – and what this means for western foreign policy

Sovereignty will always trump collective decision making, Ian Proud writes.

May 19, 2025
Trump should not threaten new sanctions when he talks to President Putin

Russia will keep fighting, Ukraine will lose all of the Donbass and Europe will pay the price

May 14, 2025
Let’s just get on with the planned Istanbul peace talks on Thursday, whether or not Putin and Zelensky meet

Zelensky should stop playing to the international press gallery in the hope that Russia cancels

May 10, 2025
Why we must not forget that Britain and Russia were in the fight against Hitler together

Western media reporting of Victory Day in Moscow invariably lacks historical context and is usually offensive.

May 9, 2025
As we commemorate VE and Victory Day, it’s time to tether the dogs of war

Feeding the Ukrainian dogs of war will only prolong the needless suffering for the poor innocent people caught in the crossfire.

May 7, 2025
The only people we are appeasing are the war mongers in Brussels and London

Stop twisting history to create bogus links between Russia and Nazi Germany

May 4, 2025
President Zelensky’s threat to Victory Day was disgraceful and should be called out as such

Zelensky’s petulant outburst is greeted with silence in the West.

May 2, 2025
Britain’s coalition of the willing decides, upon reflection, that it’s unwilling to fight in Ukraine

Why does Whitehall stumble from one idiotic idea to another?

April 29, 2025
Covering up Ukrainian Nazis is nothing new – the Canadians have been doing it for almost eighty years

The western governments are turning a blind eye once more to activity that they would never tolerate in their own countries.

April 22, 2025
Germany is committing suicide but I don’t agree with JD Vance that it’s a civilisational issue

More people, fewer Germans, less agency and no growth is the toxic cocktail that J D Vance has laid bare.

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