Professor Edward Harcourt, Director of the Institute for Ethics in AI (Interim) and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, reflects on what our relationships with chatbots reveal about what is distinctively human. He argues that we must educate users to see these systems not as new members of the human community, but as tools that risk reducing both therapy and relationships to one-dimensional, instrumental exchanges.
University of Oxford
The Donbas region remains an intractable issue in talks between Russia and Ukraine Expert comment jon.wallace 5 December 2025 Europe should look to history to prepare for the realities of long-term occupation of Ukrainian territory. The latest US diplomatic push to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine seems to have run aground for now. But important facts have been gleaned about some the intractable gaps between Russian and Ukrainian negotiating positions. Among them is control of the Donbas region, which primarily refers to Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Luhansk is nearly entirely occupied by Russia, but Donetsk remains bisected between Russian and Ukrainian armed forces and is the scene of bitter ongoing fighting. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion in February 2022 partly on the pretext of fully capturing the Donbas region – but Russia’s armed forces continue to struggle to achieve that goal, making only incremental gains.This remains a source of frustration for Putin, who (illegally) declared the annexation of Donetsk and Luhansk in September 2023, along with the other largely Russian-occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. In Donbas, so far, he has been unable to align his words with corresponding military deeds. Donald Trump’s initial 28-point plan to end the war reflected a key Russian war aim in this regard, because it stipulated Ukrainian forces withdraw voluntarily from parts of the Donbas that they occupy. Related work Trump’s 28 point ‘peace plan’ marks Europe’s last chance to stand up for Ukraine Ukraine’s government is bitterly opposed to ceding the parts that it still controls to Russia, and for good reason. Ukraine has defended these areas at great cost ever since Russia’s more limited invasion in 2014. Moreover, Donetsk towns including Kramatorsk and Sloviansk remain key parts of the so-called ‘fortress belt’ of Ukrainian defences. Were they to fall to Russia, or to be ceded, there is concern that Russian advances could accelerate, perhaps matching the recent progress they have made elsewhere in the front line – for instance, in the relatively rapid advance towards the city of Hulyaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region. The Ukrainian negotiating position has been to ask for the fighting to pause along the current front line, along the bisected region. Russia rejects this: Putin appears confident because – however slowly – Russian forces are advancing. For now, there appears no way to bridge these contrasting positions, as Trump’s negotiators found by first aligning their approach with Russia in the 28-point plan, then adjusting it to reflect Ukrainian and European concerns, and then failing to reach an agreement during the US delegation’s visit to Moscow for talks this week. Absent in this round of talks has been a direct meeting between the Russian and Ukraine sides. But as long as there is no agreement on what to do about the Donbas, there would be little point. This leads to the question of how long the Donbas will remain an intractable matter of dispute. ‘Temporarily Occupied Territories’ – for how long? The phrase ‘Temporarily Occupied Territories’ was introduced into official use by past Ukrainian governments following Russia’s initial land-grab of Crimea and parts of the Donbas in 2014. An associated government post, and a Ministry for the Temporarily Occupied Territories, was also created in 2016, with responsibilities including the provision of government services to the population of the divided Donbas region. It was later briefly renamed the Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine in 2024, until it was closed this year.Ukraine has had to come to terms with the idea that it is unlikely to fully recapture the parts of its land that Russia presently occupies. Far from an acceptance of Russia’s illegal conquests, this is more an acceptance of military realities. Such circumstances, of invasion and of unrecognized annexation, have arisen before. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that once the fighting stops, Ukraine will try to use diplomatic means to regain control of the lost lands. But this too seems part of a process of coming to accept a difficult reality. The fact is that de-facto division of Ukraine seems likely to feature in even the best-case of scenarios of ending the fighting. Ukraine’s European allies therefore need to start preparing for this reality. To do so, they should look to history. Such circumstances, of invasion and of unrecognized annexation, have arisen before.For instance, Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974 succeeded in capturing control of around 36 per cent of the island, resulting in a partition line that has remined ever since. The Turkish part, ‘The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ (TRNC), is still only diplomatically recognized by Turkey. This has not prevented Turkey from stationing troops there. The diplomatically recognized Republic of Cyprus (RoC) has managed to prosper despite the partition. GDP per head is twice or more as high than in the TNRC. The country joined the European Union in 2004, and will hold the EU Council presidency for the second time in 2026. Ambitious plans exist to connect the island to the European energy grid via a major subsea electricity link. Most importantly, the international community has devised numerous workarounds to manage the tricky realities of territorial division with the north.
Chatham House
A major UN meeting in Doha wrapped up on Thursday with a renewed drive to help the world’s poorest countries move towards long-term stability and prosperity, as senior officials urged stronger global partnerships to ensure that development gains are not lost once States exit the Least Developed Country (LDC) category.
UN News
Laut Economiesuisse rechnen Exportunternehmen auch 2026 mit Schwierigkeiten – wegen den USA und globaler Unsicherheiten.
SRF Wirtschaft
Leaders from across Central Asia gathered to discuss progress in universities, highlight new partnerships and explore how strengthened cooperation can improve academic quality and research opportunities.
Euronews
Könnte eine Superintelligenz die Menschheit auslöschen? Zunehmend warnen auch seriöse Forscher vor KI-Agenten, die ohne Skrupel ihre eigenen Ziele verfolgen. Lassen sich die Systeme noch zähmen?Drösser, Christoph
Deutschlandfunk
