At the beginning of September, Ukrainian Defense Minister was removed in response to allegations of corruption. Former American Ambassador Daniel Fried discusses this removal along with other internal leadership shake-ups, including the death of leaders of the Wagner military group in Russia as well as how Putin's future is tied to the outcome of his invasion of Ukraine and Russia's patterns of leadership succession. Fried also discusses Ukrainian and Russian actions and positioning on the world stage, including Africa and Syria, and briefly describes American Presidents Bush and Trump's responses to Putin. In his forty-year Foreign Service career, Ambassador Fried played a key role in designing and implementing American policy in Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union. He was a National Security advisor to Presidents Clinton and Bush, Ambassador to Poland, and Assistant Secretary of State for Europe. He helped craft the policy of NATO enlargement to Central European nations and, in parallel, NATO-Russia relations. Ambassador Fried is one of the U.S. governments foremost experts on Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. He is currently a Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council. He is also on the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy and a Visiting Professor at Warsaw University.