Our panel of international correspondents look back at the week's news, from protests in India to a blame game in Ukraine.

As transatlantic relations confront renewed geopolitical uncertainty, former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves delivers a pointed assessment of Washington's shifting approach to Russia's war on Ukraine and the profound implications for European security. At the heart of his analysis lies a fundamental question: can Europe develop the political unity, strategic independence and military capabilities necessary to defend its interests in an increasingly unpredictable international order? Ilves' response: "If there's any time for Europe to begin to act as Europe and not as being strictly self-interested, then this is the time for it."

It's reported that Ukraine is right now facing intense diplomatic pressure and coercion from the Trump administration to end the war quickly.

The Bronze Horseman, the iconic equestrian statue in Senate Square in St Petersburg, was commissioned by Catherine the Great in honor of Peter the Great, the city's founder. The pedestal of the statue bears a laconic dedication: "To Peter the First, Catherine the Second, 1782". Does Putin want to be the third, Vladimir the Great? And is that ambition – expansion at any cost – the real reason behind the war in Ukraine? According to former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, "Putin only cares about what will be written about him in history books."

A referendum has been held in Switzerland on whether Swiss neutrality should be more strictly enforced in the Constitution. Richard Werly, Europe correspondent for the Swiss publication Blick, tell us why the Swiss have voted "no".