Free Republic

Syria’s armed forces on Monday announced an end to a week-long ceasefire in the war-torn country brokered by the United States and Russia, blaming opposition groups battling to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad for its failure. “Syria’s army announces the end of the freeze on fighting that began at 7:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) on September 12, 2016 in accordance with the US-Russia agreement,” the statement carried by state news agency SANA said. It said rebel groups “did not commit to a single element” of the deal. After months of negotiations, the United States and Russia agreed on September 9 to...

Kerry working closely with Russia to work together for a ceasefire in Syria.... Sounds like what Trump was talking about only to be attacked for his remarks about Russia and Putin.

in order for Kerry to get Syria and Russian to relax, they need to tell Hussein Obama's freedom fighter to stop attacking too: Washington and Moscow said on Monday they were working hard to extend a truce in Syria to Aleppo, the divided northern city where a sharp escalation of violence in recent weeks has left a ceasefire in tatters and torpedoed peace talks. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Geneva for meetings with other dignitaries to try to revive the two-month-old U.S. and Russia-sponsored cessation of hostilities, which quieted guns for the first time during the five-year...

The United States and Russia agreed Monday to a ceasefire in Syria that is scheduled to take effect Saturday. "I am gratified to see the final arrangements concluded today for a cessation of hostilities in Syria and call on all parties to accept and fully comply with its terms," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement. "If implemented and adhered to, this cessation will not only lead to a decline in violence, but also continue to expand the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian supplies to besieged areas and support a political transition to a government that is responsive...

Secretary of state John Kerry has tonight announced a deal that will see a ceasefire in Syrian within a week following a meeting of The International Syria Support Group in Berlin. Earlier in the day, Kerry tweeted that he had spoken with Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, about the need for an end to fighting in the Middle Eastern nation. However, it is unclear which of the multiple forces fighting in Syria have signed up to the ceasefire, or how it will be enforced.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned Thursday that if Arab forces entered the Syrian war, they could spark a "new world war" and urged ceasefire talks instead.

Syria's army and rebels were locked in talks Wednesday night to reach a 15-day ceasefire in the Eastern Ghouta region east of the capital, a monitor and a security source told AFP. These are the first known talks aiming for a truce in the region and are likely being brokered by Russian or Iranian mediators, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. If agreement is reached, "a ceasefire in Eastern Ghouta would begin at 6:00 am (0400 GMT) Thursday and will last 15 days," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. A senior Syrian security source told AFP "talks are ongoing...

“Pakistani troops resorted to heavy firing of automatic weapons and Rocket Projectile Grenades (RPGs) besides mortar bombs on forward posts along LoC in Balakote sector of Poonch district from 1820 hours this evening,” PRO Defence, Jammu, S N Acharya said. ... “Our side retaliated appropriately but no casualty or damage was reported,” Acharya said. ... Pakistan troops overnight fired mortar bombs and used automatic weapons to target forward posts along the LoC in Balakote sector of Poonch district from 7.45 PM to 12 AM, spokesman said. With today’s ceasefire violations, Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire 22 times this month...

Israel last August 26 ended Operation Protective Edge by sealing a ceasefire agreement with a confederation of terrorist organizations in Gaza, foremost among them Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but that deal now appears to be on the brink of collapse. Khaled Al-Batash, a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group, announced his organization may soon breach the agreement, in statements made during a speech to Islamic Jihad members at an event showing support for Khader Adnan, a jailed Islamic Jihad leader hunger-striking in an Israeli prison. Al-Batash said that if Adnan dies as a result of his hunger-strike, the...

Per my report published Friday at The Shooter’s Log, actors were used to portray customers in a fake gun shop “public service announcement” produced by States United Against Gun Violence. That information comes from the New York City Mayor's Office of Media in its response to a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request submitted in March. Additionally, all replica firearms used were evidently “authorized” without official documentation to ensure legality and inventory accountability. Except, per the NYC permit, the "gun buyers" were actors... States United to Prevent Gun Violence-You Tube video screen shot “Actors are interviewed on camera in a...

The Pentagon has denied a Kremlin claim that U.S. military trainers have been sent into eastern Ukraine, calling the statement a “ridiculous attempt to shift the focus” from Russia’s own military activities there. [....] Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said on April 23: “Russia continues to supply lethal weapons, training, and command-and-control support for armed separatists in eastern Ukraine in blatant violation of Moscow’s Minsk commitments and Ukraine’s sovereignty.”

RUSH: All right. The Israelis have rejected the ceasefire proposal made by the haughty John Kerry, who served in Vietnam. The Israelis reject ceasefire deal. The only thing a ceasefire does is allow Hamas to regroup. I think Hamas is on the ropes and that's why everybody wants a ceasefire. I'm telling you, everything over there is ass backwards. Everything in this conflict is 180 degrees out of phase. They want the ceasefire to give Hamas time to regroup. "Well, we have to make it fair, Mr. Limbaugh, because the Israelis have such an unfair advantage. They're richer and they're...

(Reuters) - Ukraine announced on Thursday that it would begin withdrawing artillery from the front line with separatist rebels in the east, a move that amounts to recognition that a ceasefire meant to take effect on Feb. 15 is holding at last. The pro-Russian rebels have already been pulling back heavy weapons for two days, but Kiev had held back, arguing that fighting had not yet ceased. However, the army reported no combat fatalities at the front for a second straight day on Thursday, the first time no troops have been killed since long before the French- and German-brokered truce...

"It is no secret that the Russian army is here. My wife runs a small shop and some men only wanted to pay in rubles. They are Russian! They have broken the silence that we once had!" Vladimir said, as his three chess partners agreed in unison. "We'd like them to leave. It's not their country," he says. "I've lived most of my life in the Soviet Union. I consider myself Ukrainian, but I prefer to live in Russia, yes. You know why? Because my wife is from Russia. My two sons live in Russia. My entire family lives in...

Monitors from the OSCE, which is monitoring the ceasefire between Kiev and separatist rebels in east Ukraine, told FRANCE 24 on Monday that the truce is not being respected in critical areas nor with regard to the withdrawal of heavy weapons. Alexander Hug, the deputy chief monitor of the special mission to Ukraine for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), warned that fighting had continued over the weekend and urged both Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed rebels to disclose information about the current positions of the heavy artillery that is to be pulled back from the front line...

(Reuters) - The package of measures underpinning a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine must be "unconditionally observed", Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Sunday. Dmitry Peskov was commenting on a remark by a senior pro-Russian separatist commander that, despite the truce deal that took effect at midnight, rebels have the right to fire on the town of Debaltseve in east Ukraine as it is "our territory."

(Reuters) - Rebels in eastern Ukraine refused to allow monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to reach the encircled town of Debaltseve after a ceasefire took effect on Sunday, the head of the OSCE mission said. The rebels have said the ceasefire does not apply to Debaltseve, scene of the worst fighting in recent weeks.

The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko has called an emergency meeting Sunday regarding the violation of silence regime in Donbas by Kiev forces, the deputy head of DPR militia said. "The head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko has called an emergency meeting at which the current situation is being discussed," Eduard Basurin said. Eduard Basurin said that at 02:00 (February 14, 23:00 GMT) armed groups of Kiev militants in the town of Debaltseve have opened fire targeting the positions of LPR and DPR. “In order to avoid civilian casualties, the units of DPR...

KYIV, September 8 /Ukrinform/. The self-declared “DPR” stops a process of exchange of captives since it says that it has not received a list of captured militants. This is said on the website of terrorists. “There are fears that we will release everyone, and Kyiv will try to cheat,” acting “minister of state security” of the “DPR” Leonid Baranov said. Due to this, the “DPR” is not planning to release about 1,000 Ukrainian military in order not to become, as they allege, “victims of fraud.”

KYIV, September 8 /Ukrinform/. Russian soldiers and militants conducted active actions near Mariupol and Donetsk since yesterday's evening. Head of the Information Resistance group Dmytro Tymchuk said about this on his page on Facebook. “Since the yesterday's (7.09.2014) evening, the enemy conducted active actions in the area of Mariupol, Donetsk, Debaltseve,” he wrote. In addition, Tymchuk informed that Russian military and terrorists fired positions and roadblocks of Ukrainian military with the use of small arms, mortars and grenade launchers in the area of inhabited localities of Zhdanivka, Zolote, Nyzhnia Krynka, Fashchivka.