Free Republic

US President Donald Trump has said he will have "a major statement" on Russia on Monday, without going into detail. Trump made the remark in a phone interview with NBC News on Thursday, referring to the situation in Ukraine. The president said, "I'm disappointed in Russia, but we'll see what happens over the next couple of weeks." Trump has recently been stepping up his criticism of Russia. He has suggested he would consider additional sanctions against Moscow. Russia's presidential spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Friday that Moscow is waiting for the statement to understand what exactly President Trump means.

Russia has sent a stark and chilling warning to Donald Trump, as the US Congress prepares to vote on a new batch of sanctions against Moscow. -snip- Vladimir Solovyov - a Kremlin apparatchik - warned Trump that Russia could become America's "most terrifying enemy" in a rant on his TV talkshow. "Maybe Trump simply can't grasp that Russia doesn't care about the national interests of other countries if they contradict those of our own state?" he fumed. Warming to his subject, the Putin stooge continued: "The time when someone like Yeltsin, who randomly emerged from the dust of history, managed...

Key Points and Summary – Western aspirations for regime change in Russia are a “dangerous delusion” that ignores the lessons of past interventions in Iraq and Libya. Such efforts are not only unrealistic, given Russia’s nationalist resilience, but also risk provoking greater instability and a more aggressive Kremlin.

Everyone agrees: it's getting worse. The people of Kyiv have, like the citizens of other Ukrainian cities, been through a lot. After three and a half years of fluctuating fortunes, they are tough and extremely resilient. But in recent months, they have been experiencing something new: vast, coordinated waves of attacks from the air, involving hundreds of drones and missiles, often concentrated on a single city. Last night, it was Kyiv. And the week before too. In between, it was Lutsk in the far west. Three years ago, Iranian-supplied Shahed drones were a relative novelty. I remember hearing my first,...

President Donald Trump for the first time since returning to office will send weapons to Kyiv under a presidential power frequently used by his predecessor, two sources familiar with the decision said on Thursday, a move suggesting new interest by the president in defending Ukraine. More than three years after Russia's invasion of its neighbor, Trump's team will identify arms from U.S. stockpiles to send to Ukraine under the Presidential Drawdown Authority, the sources said, with one saying they could be worth around $300 million. Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. would send more weapons to Ukraine to help the...

Russian state media has launched a barrage of criticism against U.S. President Donald Trump after he accused Russia's Vladimir Putin of saying "a lot of bulls***" about the war in Ukraine, the exiled news outlet Agentstvo reported Wednesday. -snip- Prominent pro-Kremlin television host Vladimir Solovyov on Tuesday chastised Trump on his flagship talk show for addressing Putin in what he described as a disrespectful tone. “Trump has started to speak rudely,” Solovyov said. “It seems to us that he’s undergoing a ‘Bidenization.’ His belief that he’s the only person able to speak with Putin has made him transform into another...

Speaking on the State TV channel Russia-1, pro-government host Vladimir Solovyov warned that Russia could destroy both US coasts using nuclear-powered Poseidon torpedoes—underwater weapons designed to trigger a “radioactive tsunami.” During the broadcast, Solovyov directly addressed US President Donald Trump: “Will Trump understand that two Poseidons, launched from different sides, could wipe out the US and create a radioactive disaster? That would be the end—nothing will save them.” “No protective element will help them,” Solovyov declared, referring to US missile defense systems. Framing the hypothetical strike as a response to “Western aggression,” he suggested that Washington underestimates Russia’s capabilities and...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he expressed the United States' frustration that more progress has not been made on ending the war in Ukraine in a meeting on Thursday with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. "It was a frank conversation. It was an important one," Rubio said his 50-minute talks with the Russian foreign minister on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Malaysia. He said he expressed to Lavrov what U.S. President Donald Trump has said publicly, "that there's not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict." The envoys'...

In exchange for sending tens of thousands of troops and vast amounts of artillery shells to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine, North Korea is likely demanding and receiving critical Russian military technology. While Pyongyang receives cash payments for its mercenaries, the real prize for Kim Jong Un is access to advanced Russian know-how that it cannot develop itself.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth unilaterally suspended military aid to Ukraine for the third time, despite military conclusions that there was no threat to US stockpiles. This decision surprised the State Department, Congress, and European allies, drawing bipartisan criticism. The suspension of military aid to Ukraine was a unilateral step by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, citing three congressional aides and a former US official familiar with the matter, NBC News reports, writes UNN. "The Department of Defense (US) this week delayed the delivery of American weapons to Ukraine due to, according to officials, concerns about its low...

The Russian Ministry of Defence stated on Saturday that its armed forces destroyed two air defense platforms and two radar stations of the Patriot system. "Operational-tactical aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery of groups of troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation destroyed two launchers and two AN/MPQ-65 radar stations of the [United States] US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system," the ministry wrote on Telegram. It also shared that the Russian military's air defense systems managed to down a US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, a Neptune long-range guided missile, three guided aerial bombs and 371...

@Mylovanov Trump: We had a strong, strategic call with Zelenskyy — we continue our support. The situation is tough. My call with Putin was disappointing. He seems determined to keep the war going. Not good.

Mr. President, we know you understand that the primary obstacle to peace in Ukraine is Russia’s aggression. You said you were “disappointed” in the conversation with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and that you “don’t think he’s looking to stop.” Putin again insisted he was unwilling to commit to a ceasefire until the “root causes” of the conflict were addressed. For Vlad, the “root cause” is the existence of Ukraine. He followed your call with the largest drone and missile strike of the war, killing at least one. So why, Mr. President, is your administration punishing Ukraine? The Pentagon has halted...

US President Donald Trump voiced strong criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing deep frustration over their latest conversation about the ongoing war in Ukraine. Calling the situation “no good", Donald Trump said he was “very unhappy" with the call, as he accused Vladimir Putin of wanting to “keep killing people." “It’s a very tough situation," Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding, “He wants to go all the way- just keep killing people. It’s no good." The US president also suggested that additional US sanctions on Moscow could be imminent, saying sanctions were a recurring topic in...

President Trump went off on Joe Biden for emptying out the US’s munitions stockpiles. TGP reported earlier this week that the Pentagon is halting some weapons shipments to Ukraine after it was revealed that Joe Biden depleted the US stockpiles.The Trump Administration is withholding shipments promised by the Biden Regime after the Pentagon’s policy chief Elbridge Colby found the US’s stockpiles of munitions and air defense missiles are dangerously low.Joe Biden sent billions of dollars to Ukraine and now the US’s total number of artillery rounds, air defense missiles and precision munitions are sinking.' Biden sent Ukraine as much money...

Russia and Ukraine continue to coordinate dates for a new round of negotiations in Istanbul and are awaiting proposals on timelines from each other, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. There are no difficulties in the process, he asserted during a press briefing in Moscow. "There are no 'blockages'; we just need to complete all procedures for coordination. Each side is waiting for timeline proposals," explained the official. As for the memorandum in which both parties outlined their visions for a peace treaty, Moscow does not publicly talk about its contents because it has yet to be discussed with...

Republican lawmakers are slamming the Trump administration’s decision to halt some U.S. missile and munitions shipments to Ukraine, warning it risks emboldening Russia at a pivotal point in the war.Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, said he would be “aggressively looking into this matter” following the White House’s acknowledgment that the Pentagon froze deliveries of critical air defense weapons due to concerns over shrinking U.S. stockpiles.“We must build up our own defense industrial base here in the U.S. while simultaneously providing the needed assistance to our allies who are defending their freedom from a brutal invading...

Russia's wartime economy may finally be losing steam, fresh data shows. In June, Russia's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, sank to 47.5 — its sharpest pace of contraction since March 2022, according to S&P Global. This was a reversal from the PMI of 50.2 in May, when Russia's manufacturing activity expanded. The results from the latest S&P Global manufacturing PMI survey are a contrast against the resilience that Russia's economy has been projecting over the last few years. Russia appears to have avoided an economic collapse since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But many analysts have...

Vladimir Putin has been dealt a massive setback after more than 20,000 soldiers deserted the front line in the war against Ukraine – leaving Kremlin forces even more depleted. Courts have received 20,538 cases of service personnel absent without leave, desertion or refusing orders since the illegal invasion began in February 2022, according to Russian independent news service Mediazone. The majority – 18,159 – were for soldiers going awol, with 17,721 being prosecuted under Russia’s Criminal Code. The maximum punishment is a 10-year jail term. However, those found guilty could commute their sentences by serving in the Storm-Z convict assault...

THE Russian invasion of Ukraine has been advancing at an incredibly slow pace - with Kyiv's "dronegrinder" warfare miring Putin's summer offensive. The rate at which Moscow is capturing land has been dubbed "slower than a snail" - all while the human cost of Russian casualties is sky high. After 448 days of fighting inside Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, the Russians reportedly only managed to take control of 50 per cent of the city. Which means the troops, on average, are only able to take 0.00629 square miles of land per day - which is a painfully low conversion...