don bluth is a radio journalist and author and former correspondent for germany's deutschland, formed in russian women going to the ankle, his mind dw colleague from ukraine, currently working with dw russian service and barn and stuff. guess it is a senior policy fellow at the european council on foreign relations here in berlin view. thank you. thank you for being with us today now, because we, i'd like to start with you. the situation in the middle east has certainly drawn attention away from the war and ukraine, but they're also just haven't been major breakthroughs in the war and ukraine for weeks or even months. how would you describe this moment in the russian ukraine war? and i think it's a very, very critical moment because um, as it sets up the situation on the front is somehow stuck. um, even you could say that russia gaines initiatives, again, especially in the east of ukraine. at the same time, you'll have for funding reporting, saying that only pretending to be ready to negotiate and negotiate. but this has nothing but empty words. indeed, he has the same goes for his mo