The Russian regime is using many tools to cover up the war in Ukraine, the bombings and the columns of tanks, but the truth is emerging, that is something Gwendolyn Sasse of the Center for East European and International Studies is sure of. "You can't stop the images. It's just a matter of time." She is already observing the growing number of street protests. "We see a lot of people leaving the country, or at least thinking about it," Sasse said. But that also poses a danger: when people who are "inconvenient" emigrate, then that could reduce pressure on the regime, she says. -mb

Katrin Rulle

Moderator Reinhard Krumm asks a crucial question: How can we conceive of a negotiation process in Ukraine? Eastern Europe expert Gwendolyn Sasse says the process often starts small but must continue to grow larger and larger. Initially, she says, there will be talk of humanitarian corridors and ceasefires, then of longer ceasefires, and finally the end of the war. However, the outcome is impossible to predict, she says. "The outcome is open." She says it is "currently beyond our imagining" how Russia and Ukraine will look after the war. -ls

Katrin Rulle