Free Republic

Russia has said it believes NATO is plotting a "landing" in Ukraine as part of a bid by the European Union to "occupy" Moldova. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed NATO military units were massing in Romania close to the Moldovan border and were also planning a "landing" in Ukraine's Odesa region, according to TASS, Moscow's state news agency. Why It Matters Moldova goes to the polls on Sunday in a critical parliamentary election. The vote is seen as a stark choice for the country between a path to EU membership or closer ties with Moscow. Following Russia’s invasion...

Gasoline shortages in some regions of Russia have prompted the Kremlin to announce an extension of its ban on fuel exports. Ukrainian drone strikes on refinery facilities are believed to be a factor. The shortages surfaced in the Russian Far East and other areas last month, and have spread to the western Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions. The governor of the Belgorod region said on social media on Wednesday that the government had received a number of questions about fuel supplies. The governor added that efforts are underway to keep the situation under control but there are problems. In areas...

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recommended that its citizens immediately leave Belarus and refrain from traveling to the country, the Polish embassy in Minsk reported. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends refraining from any travel to the Republic of Belarus and calls on Polish citizens currently in the Republic of Belarus to immediately leave its territory, using available commercial and private means“, the embassy's press service said.

Poland has barred pro-Russian Moldovan politician Irina Vlah from entering the country for five years, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, accusing her of helping Moscow interfere in Moldova’s upcoming parliamentary elections. "Irina Vlah, a Moldovan politician who is assisting Russia in interfering with preparations for the parliamentary elections in Moldova, will be banned from entering Poland," the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement. Moldova is set to hold a high-stakes parliamentary vote on Sunday that could determine its European path. Officials in Chișinău and Western capitals have accused Moscow of trying to sway the outcome and undermine the...

Russia and China asked the United Nations Security Council to vote on Friday on a draft resolution to delay by six months the reimposition of sanctions on Iran, diplomats said. All U.N. sanctions on Iran are due to be reimposed at 8 p.m. EDT on Friday (0000 GMT on Saturday) after Britain, France and Germany triggered a 30-day process accusing Tehran of violating a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon. A resolution in the 15-member U.N. Security Council needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by either Britain, France...

United States President Donald Trump expressed on Thursday his disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin, regarding the lack of progress toward resolving the war in Ukraine. "With all of the heavy bombardment over the last two weeks, they have gained almost no land. I'm not going to ever call anybody a paper tiger but Russia has spent millions and millions of dollars in bombs, missiles, ammunition and lives," Trump told journalists amid a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Oval Office.