Free Republic

ISTANBUL—Diplomatic brinkmanship over U.S.-brokered efforts to efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine reached dizzying levels on Wednesday, with each side seeking to call the other’s bluff by demonstrating a desire for peace and casting the other as the obstacle to it. Ukraine’s president said he would be waiting in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Thursday for Vladimir Putin, but the Russian president is sending a team of negotiators to Istanbul, and the Kremlin won’t say if he will be there. President Trump hasn’t ruled out the possibility of joining any talks in Turkey, and senior U.S. officials are headed...

The United States has reportedly encouraged intelligence agencies to ramp up spying efforts in Greenland amid President Donald Trump repeatedly floating the idea of taking over the Arctic island.... The Wall Street Journal reported, citing two sources, that high-ranking officials working under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Habbard sent a "collection of emphasis message" to the heads of various intelligence agencies last week. Intelligence agencies have been directed to learn more about the independence movement on the island and the general attitude of the Greenlanders towards American resource extraction, the Journal added. The agencies have been asked to use tools...

Despite repeated messages of support by Trump, Waltz has lost sway with the president and the backing of senior aides within the White House, officials said, just as the administration struggles to broker peace deals and faces the threat of further war in the Middle East. For Trump, Waltz’s biggest sin wasn’t starting a Signal chat to coordinate strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, or even posting Israel-provided intelligence onto an unclassified network, it was having the Atlantic magazine’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg’s number in his phone and inadvertently adding him to the conversation. Trump’s anger spilled over into...

President Trump is looking forward to a fundamentally productive negotiation with Russia’s Putin and Ukraine’s Zelensky, Vice President JD Vance has said, in comments mischaracterised by the Wall Street Journal as a threat of war.U.S. Vice President JD Vance is speaking at the Munich Security Conference — taking place just one day after what is said to have been a terror attack in the city — and meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal before these engagements, Vance communicated President Donald Trump’s determination to make a peace deal in Ukraine and the incentives on...

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the U.S. would hit Moscow with sanctions and potentially military action if Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t agree to a peace deal with Ukraine that guarantees Kyiv’s long-term independence. Vance said the option of sending U.S. troops to Ukraine if Moscow failed to negotiate in good faith remained “on the table,” striking a far tougher tone than did Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who on Wednesday suggested the U.S. wouldn’t commit forces. “There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage” the U.S. could use against Putin, Vance said....

Ukrainian officials are warning Republicans who may soon take control in Congress: Defeating Russia means providing not just weapons, but more money for Ukraine’s economy as well.Ukrainian leaders believe that, despite dissident notes from some on the far right, a fully or partially GOP-led Congress won’t skimp on giving Kyiv military aid. In fact, Ukraine expects “even more robust” weapons packages if Republicans are in charge, said Daniel Vajdich, a lobbyist for the Ukrainian government.

POLITICO’s National Security Daily has procured two telling documents on the Ukraine war: a list of Ukraine’s latest weapons requests circulating in Washington, D.C., and a slide deck used at today’s extraordinary meeting of 30 nations to curb Russia’s military rearmament. First off, the “priority items” list, obtained Thursday night. Eight months into the war, Ukraine is asking for: — 300 Main battle tanks — 1,000 BMP armored personnel carriers — 30 Multiple Launch Rocket System — 250 155mm artillery systems — 500 anti-tank guided missiles — 1,000 man-portable air-defense systems — 72 short-range air defense systems — 20 AN/TPQ-36,...