Free Republic

REVEALED: The 60,000 US troops already based in Europe that Biden might call into action to defend against Russian aggression: American warships, stealth fighter jets, tanks and bombers could now train their sights on Putin.The USS Harry S. Truman and its strike group will participate in a NATO exercise in the Mediterranean until February 4; Biden said he and European leaders had 'total unanimity' about the situation in the Ukraine; The White House said NATO has emphasised a desire for a diplomatic solution; Putin discussed a 'strategic partnership' with Cuba in a phone call with President Miguel Díaz-Canel, days after...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday thanked North Korea for sending troops to fight alongside Russia in Moscow's war against Ukraine and vowed not to forget their sacrifices. Putin's comments came just hours after North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had deployed troops to fight Ukrainian forces. -snip- In a statement, Putin praised North Korean troops who he said fought "shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters, defended our Motherland as their own." "The Russian people will never forget the heroism of the DPRK special forces," Putin said. "We will always honor the heroes who gave their lives...

North Korea officially confirmed for the first time on Monday that it has deployed troops to Russia, framing it as an extension of its strategic partnership with Moscow. -snip- The commission further said that Kim Jong-un determined that the situation on the battlefield warranted the activation of Article 4 of the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between North Korea and Russia. Based on this analysis, Kim ordered the deployment of North Korean forces and notified the Russian side accordingly, according to the statement. North Korea also noted that Kim referred to the troops dispatched to Russia as "representatives of the nation's...

Iran and Russia signed an agreement Tuesday to expand military ties in a visit to Tehran by the Russian defense minister. Sergei Shoigu, in remarks carried by Russian news agencies, said Moscow wants to develop a "long-term and multifaceted" military relationship with Iran. He said that the new agreement includes expanded counter-terrorism cooperation, exchanges of military personnel for training purposes and an understanding for each country's navy to more frequently use the other's ports. Iran's Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan urged greater cooperation as a means of opposing American ambitions in the region. Moscow and Tehran have staunchly supported Syrian President...

Russia on Saturday publicly acknowledged for the first time that North Korean forces are fighting on its side against Ukraine. While reporting to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation in Kursk, southern Russia, General Valery Gerasimov praised North Korean DPRK soldiers for their efforts. Gerasimov said the troops had shown “high professionalism, fortitude, courage and heroism,” fulfilling combat tasks “shoulder to shoulder” with Russian servicemen. Following this admission, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that “Russia will never forget its friends from the DPRK.”

Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) says the Trump administration should drop nuclear negotiations with Iran and finish off the country's nuclear facilities with a military strike. "Waste that s—t," the Pennsylvania Democrat told the Washington Free Beacon in an interview on Wednesday. "You're never going to be able to negotiate with that kind of regime that has been destabilizing the region for decades already, and now we have an incredible window, I believe, to do that, to strike and destroy Iran's nuclear facilities." Fetterman dismissed the foreign policy experts who warn that striking Iran would lead to the outbreak of...

68 soldiers of the 1st Army Officer School will represent the Vietnam People's Army in the parade marking the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War, taking place on Red Square in Moscow, Russia on May 9. The 80-member delegation from the 1st Army Officer School is scheduled to leave for Russia on April 23. The parade group includes 73 soldiers, including 68 official members and 5 reserve members, along with leaders in charge, training instructors, doctors, interpreters and security guards. The soldiers participating in the parade are aged 19-30 and 1.8 m or taller. These are...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law ratifying a strategic partnership treaty with Iran, Russian state news agency RIA reported on Monday.

PUTIN has stayed deafeningly silent after Kyiv claimed that two Chinese nationals were captured fighting in Ukraine. Beijing responded to Zelensky's call for answers and vowed to investigate the alleged reports of Chinese involvement in the conflict. Russia has chosen to stay silent on the matter, sparking fresh fears that Putin has been working with China all along. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said: "I cannot comment on this information in any way." Zelensky demanded an official response from Beijing after claiming that Kyiv captured two Chinese nationals fighting in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman...

The Ukrainian military has captured two Chinese citizens fighting in the Russian army, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said the Kremlin's ranks probably contain many more soldiers from the Asian nation. The pair of Chinese fighters were detained in Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine, which borders Russia. Documents, bank cards and personal information were on them when captured, he said. "We have information indicating that there are significantly more Chinese citizens within the occupier's units than just these two," Zelensky said Tuesday on social media. "We are currently working to verify all the facts." Accompanying the post was a...

Russia said on Wednesday the world was getting tired of endless threats against Iran and that bombing the Islamic Republic would not bring peace, cautioning that Tehran was already taking preventative measures. Iran is approaching weekend talks with the United States over its nuclear program warily, with little confidence in progress and deep suspicions about US intentions, Iranian officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The talks were announced on Monday by US President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House in January and has repeatedly threatened Washington’s decades-long foe Iran with military action if it does not agree to a...

The school has trained 47,000 troops deployed to Ukraine. A Chechen military training school came under drone attack on Tuesday, the region’s strongman leader announced. The Russian Special Forces University, located in the town of Gudermes, was struck in the morning and set ablaze, Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov said on Telegram.

Communist dictatorships China and Russia are “friends forever, never enemies,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi declared Tuesday during a visit to Moscow.“The principle of ‘friends forever, never enemies’ … serves as a solid legal basis for advancing strategic cooperation at a higher level,” Wang told Russia’s RIA state news agency in an interview as reported by Reuters.

Russia has warned that strikes against Iran's nuclear infrastructure would have "catastrophic" consequences, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran unless it came to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear program. "Threats are indeed being heard, ultimatums are also being heard," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Russian journal "International Affairs" in an interview, extracts of which were published on Tuesday. "We consider such methods inappropriate, we condemn them, we consider them a way for (the U.S.) to impose its own will on the Iranian side."

The Chavista regime of Nicolás Maduro is playing with fire and knows it! US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stern warning yesterday from Guyana: any aggression against this country or ExxonMobil's operations in the Essequibo will have "serious consequences" for Caracas. In a press conference alongside Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, Rubio didn't mince words: "It would be a very bad day for the Venezuelan regime, a very bad week, and it wouldn't end well." The message is clear: the US will not tolerate the bravado of a declining leftist dictator. Maduro, the tyrant who has plunged Venezuela into...

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Iran with bombings and secondary tariffs on Sunday if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear program. "If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing," Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC. "But there's a chance that if they don't make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls on partners to respond seriously to Russia's constant attacks, which undermines international efforts to end the war. Source: President's evening address Quote: "Last night, [Russia launched – ed.] 172 attack drones, more than 100 of which were Shaheds. In fact, large-scale drone assaults persist on a daily basis, as do missile threats and ballistic missiles. It should be apparent to our partners that these Russian strikes target not only our people, but also all international efforts and diplomacy aimed at bringing this war to an end. Russia is striking at the positions of all those...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his unwavering support for Russia's war in Ukraine during a meeting with Russian security council secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang, North Korea state media reported Saturday. -snip- During the meeting, Kim stated that North Korea would "invariably support Russia in the struggle for defending the national sovereignty, territorial integrity and security interests," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Shoigu delivered a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who extended his greetings to Kim and vowed to give "utmost attention" to implementing agreements from their previous summits. He also thanked North Korea...

BEHIND THE LINES: The US administration appears to fail to notice the broader alliance taking shape behind these forces, and the interconnectedness of the current assault on the West. The statement by US President Donald Trump that Iran would be held responsible for continued attacks by the Yemeni Houthi movement on shipping in the Red Sea sharply raises the temperature in the ongoing escalation between US forces and the Yemeni Shi’ite Islamist movement in that area. “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership...

Iran has the right to peaceful nuclear energy and is acting in line with international law, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. Peskov said Moscow accepted Iran's statements that it has no intention of obtaining nuclear weapons.