David Remnick

And even when I speak to the most ardent Ukrainians now, the spirit of the conversation is very different.

There's at least some sense of resignation.

Well, but disillusion, but also some sense that whatever resolution happens, there will be...

land that Russia will hold on to, at the very minimum Crimea, but probably parts of the East.

And NATO probably is not in the conversation, although the EU may well be in security guarantees.

How have you changed in your assessment of the way the war will end and what Ukraine will look like at that point?

When you talk about the future of Ukraine the way you do, do you see it in a kind of timeline that's analogous to a place like South Korea, where South Korea is under the protection, in a sense, of the West?

There's always a yearning for reunification, but it's obvious that the timeline for this has nothing to do with next week or next year.

When you were in my office last December with your colleagues, I just as a matter of

you know, fellow feeling, asked how everybody was and how were your family and friends.

And there was a really long pause.

And it was very clear that people didn't want to go into very much detail.

What affects you?

The war with Iran benefits more than anybody I can think of.

Russia.

Oil prices have gone way back up.

The restrictions have been lifted.

Russia is alleged to, and I think even in your paper, the Kiev Independent, there have been reports that Russia has provided intelligence to Iran.

The United States is struggling.

Iran itself, of course, is struggling.