Hi, I'm Ravi Agrawal, Foreign Policy's editor-in-chief. This is FP Live.

Welcome to the show. Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky gave the world some mixed messages at last

week's NATO summit. First, he criticized NATO countries for not laying out a clear path

for Ukraine's membership. He called the lack of such a move absurd. The next day, perhaps after

some Western officials took issue with his tone, he was heard praising NATO for all of its

support. And then, when he reached home, he was at pains to explain to a domestic

audience his visit wasn't in vain. Zelensky has arguably the most difficult job in the world,

and it's not hard to see in his statements last week a microcosm of the current state of the war.

Obviously, Ukraine has done far better than anyone expected

18 months ago, but Kiev's ongoing counteroffensive hasn't significantly moved the needle,

at least not as much as supporters hoped, and that's despite the fact that the recent Wagner

rebellion highlighted real weaknesses and dissent in Putin's regime.

It's a good time to try and explore where things stand in the war in Ukraine, and I turn to a

popular FP live guest for that, Andrea Kendall Taylor. She's a senior fellow and the director

of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for New American Security.

She previously served in the CIA for eight years and in government as a Russia expert.

She's also the co-host of the podcast, Brussels Sprout. And as you'll hear ahead, she thinks Putin has

actually handled the fallout from the Wagner Rebellion quite well, but she thinks Kiev will

soon ramp up its counteroffensive. There's a lot to listen there. As always, FP subscribers get to

send in questions that frame these discussions, and soon, I should say, you'll be able to ask me

questions too. I'm going to do an Ask Me Anything episode later this summer.

Send in your questions about me, the show,

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