Show Notes
On today's episode, Max and Maria give their initial takes on the news that U.S. and Russian negotiators met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 18 to begin efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution to the war in Ukraine, notably without representatives from Ukraine or European nations present. This episode was recorded on February 18, as this story was still developing.
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The U.S. has eased sanctions on Russian diesel while Ukraine has accused Washington of withholding intelligence and throttling access to its Starlink and Starshield networks. Is the U.S turning its back on Kyiv? What does growing uncertainty of U.S. support mean on the ground in Ukraine?
Hanna Notte, author of We Shall Outlast Them: Putin's Global Campaign to Defeat the West, sat down LIVE with Max and Maria for a wide-ranging discussion of Russia's evolving global strategy and what its confrontation with the West means for the future of international order.Hanna joined the show to discuss her new book, We Shall Outlast Them: Putin's Global Campaign to Defeat the West, a panoramic account of a Russia grown increasingly outward-facing, and of the changing international landscape in which it now operates. Drawing on reporting and analysis from more than a dozen countries, Notte traces how the Kremlin has adapted its foreign policy, built new partnerships, navigated sanctions, and expanded its influence across the Global South. From the halls of the United Nations to military bases, presidential palaces, and tense borderlands, she explores the people and institutions advancing Russia's agenda, as well as the activists, refugees, and whistleblowers living with its consequences.In this episode, they break down how Russia's war in Ukraine has evolved into a wider contest over the global order. The full event is available on demand HERE.Guest:
Since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Western policymakers have faced a recurring dilemma: how much escalation risk is acceptable in pursuit of a Ukrainian battlefield advantage?
Max Bergmann is joined by Hanna Notte and Natasha Hall to map the escalation risks, assess Russia's shifting military and diplomatic footprint in Syria under the new government of Ahmed al-Sharaa, and parse what a surprise CIA visit to Moscow reveals about where this global realignment is heading. Along the way, they examine Ukrainian strikes on Iranian vessels, allegations that Moscow is feeding Tehran intelligence on U.S. positions, and what a deepening Russia-Iran economic partnership means for the wider region.
Maria Snegovaya sits down with Pavel Talankin –– a Russian schoolteacher who became an unlikely lens into the Russian propaganda machine. His documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, captured two years of footage from inside a provincial Russian classroom as Putin's war transformed his students into instruments of the state. The film won the 2026 Oscar for Best Documentary. Talankin joins Russian Roulette's first episode recorded in Russian to discuss his inspiration, experience making the film, and what his story reveals about the depths of propaganda in Russia's education system today.