CWD Member and Lancaster University professor Michael Hughes has for more than thirty years researched Russia’s relations with the outside world. During the opening days he was interviewed on TV and Radio stations around the world about the origins of the Ukraine crisis and the threat it poses to the security of Europe. He has described how the crisis has been many years and even decades in the making, and argued that in order to understand the crisis we need to make sense of the complex historical relations between Russia and Ukraine, as well as trying to understand what Putin is trying to achieve by invading Ukraine.

Two notable mentions of Michael's appearances include an interview with France 24 which can be watched on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nQgU81m-E8 and a podcast with CAPETALK: https://www.capetalk.co.za/podcasts/144/afternoon-drive-with-john-maytham/604922/what-motivation-is-driving-putins-war-on-ukraine