Free Republic

PARIS -- It was inevitable that sooner or later, leading European countries would start distancing themselves from the aggressive rhetoric that has been the hallmark of the European Union leadership's approach to the armed conflict in Ukraine. Last week in Turin, Italian Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio presented a four-point peace plan to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who made contact with Moscow and Kyiv in visits a few weeks ago. Di Maio also chaired the group of Europe's foreign ministers at a meeting in Turin, including those of other EU countries which have recently shown interest in de-escalating...

Has land for peace ever worked — even lately? We’ll get to that in a moment, but first let’s look at a critical moment in the Russian offensive in Donbas. If Putin wants to force a face-saving settlement, he needs to win a decisive battle to secure an area that he, um, largely controlled by proxy before the invasion. Reuters casts the ongoing battle on the Siverskiy Donets river as Putin’s last, best hope to get out with some claim of victory:The decisive battles of the war’s latest phase are still raging further south, where Moscow is attempting to seize...

"Not so long ago, Republicans said they had sworn off nation-building. Following the failure of the neoconservative project in Iraq and Afghanistan, GOP leaders seemed to have learned their lesson. But apparently not. Now nation-building is back with force, with a massive aid package to Ukraine that makes that country a US client state. Up next: a debate over expanding NATO. Many Republicans in Congress have already lined up to support both, almost reflexively. Why?"

Germany has reportedly supplied Kiev forces with thousands of anti-tank mines on the hopes of slowing down the advance of the Russian military in Ukraine. In a report released on May 17, Der Spiegel revealed that Germany sent 1,600 DM-12 PARM and 3,000 DM-31 anti-tank mines to Ukraine over the last few weeks. The German-made DM-12 off-route anti-tank mine, which is mounted on a small tripod, fires a fin stabilized rocket with an effective range of 2 to 40 meters and the ability to penetrate 600 millimeters of armour. The mine incorporates an arming delay of five minutes. It can...

Walls rattled and pieces of plaster fell from the ceiling of a basement converted by Ukrainian troops into a forward outpost. Russian shells hit again and again the crumpled building above. Images on a surveillance monitor, linked to a camera outside in the deserted village, showed plumes of black smoke rising all around the compound. “The Russians are very angry today because yesterday we killed two of their tanks,” said Marian, a platoon leader in the volunteer Carpathian Sich battalion deployed on the front line near the Russian-held Ukrainian city of Izyum. Like most military personnel, he is only allowed...

Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, GETTR THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOVEMBER 4, 2019Intelligence sources in Kyiv have informed CD Media that the ‘witness’ narrative of LT COL Alexander Vindman was created by corrupt U.S. State Department officials in Kyiv, Ukraine. According to our sources, “Alexander Vindman [recent witness in favor of Trump impeachment], Gordon Sondland [US ambassador to the EU and Trump supporter] and Oleksandr Danilyuk [Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine from late May until 30 September 2019 before being fired] had a meeting in July 2019. Sondland...