Kuala Lampur, May 2 -- An open-ended ceasefire in West Asia is not a solution - it is a strategic pause. It is a moment when great powers reassess, recalibrate, and reposition. But the deeper danger lies elsewhere.

The fate of West Asia is now increasingly tied to another battlefield: Ukraine. Without a clear and decisive outcome in Ukraine, Russia will remain trapped in a liminal state - neither defeated nor victorious, but dangerously incentivised to expand its strategic reach elsewhere, including Iran.

This is why Ukraine is not just a European war. It is the hinge upon which the global balance of power now turns.

Russia today is beleaguered but not broken, battered but not completely bushwhacked into defeat. As and when it can, Rus...