Free Republic

Trump’s announcement Wednesday evening that he was, for the first time, imposing sanctions on Russia was welcomed by Kyiv and its supporters, signalling that Trump was turning away from his appeals to Putin in favor of a pressure campaign to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine. Senate Republicans and Democrats are laying the groundwork to hammer Putin with a slew of other sanctions. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday advanced a trio of bills meant to punish Russia and its enablers. This includes labeling Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism for its abduction of Ukrainian children; strengthening the U.S. ability...

Let’s put the events of the last 72 hours into context.On Monday and Tuesday, Russian oil refineries in NATO countries Hungary and Romania suddenly, and simultaneously, have mysterious explosions and catastrophic fires {citation}}. On Wednesday, NATO head Mark Rutte comes to visit President Trump in the White House, and at the end of the day, the same Russian company, Lukoil, whose refinery exploded in Romania, suddenly becomes sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury. These events are not disconnected.President Trump then disputes a Wall Street Journal report, further saying he did not give approval, nor does he know where NATO long-range missiles...

President Donald Trump’s working lunch with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday turned acrimonious when the US leader insisted Ukraine make territorial concessions to Russia to end the war, according to European officials briefed on the meeting. Trump, who would later endorse a freeze in current battle lines as part of a peace settlement, grew frustrated and raised his voice multiple times, the officials said. The episode was the latest chapter in the fraught relationship between the two men, and amounted to another shift in Trump’s approach to how the war will be settled. Last month, after meeting Zelensky...

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy might have come to the White House for Tomahawks, but President Donald Trump and he agreed against escalation and a move toward peace, with Trump issuing a directive to Russia and Ukraine to "stop where the are." "The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine was very interesting, and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL!" Trump wrote Friday night on Truth Social. "Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts. They should...

BRUSSELS (AP) — Germany on Wednesday pledged more than $2 billion in military aid for Ukraine, as the government in Kyiv signaled that it would need $120 billion in 2026 to stave off Russia's nearly four-year all-out war.Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Germany would buy $500 million worth of U.S. weapons for Ukraine under a new program to fast-track military equipment. Estonia, Finland, Lithuania and Sweden said that they would also participate in the funding initiative.Pistorius said that Germany's “package addresses a number of urgent requirements of Ukraine. It provides air defense systems, Patriot (missile) interceptors, radar systems and...

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said “firepower” is coming to Ukraine through European nations’ purchases of US weapons, but whether that includes American-made Tomahawk missiles is still not clear. “Firepower, that’s what is coming,” said Hegseth, backing up comments from NATO chief Mark Rutte as the security alliance’s defense ministers gathered in Brussels. He added that “commitments” made by European nations would soon turn into “capabilities” for Ukraine.The weapons purchases are being made under the new Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, which has already seen $2 billion pledged for military equipment for Ukraine, with more expected to...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, according to an administration official, a Western official and a Ukrainian embassy spokesperson. Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Olga Stefanishyna, confirmed that Trump invited Zelenskyy to a meeting this week, Ukrainian Embassy spokesperson Halyna Yusypiuk said. The visit, previously reported by the Financial Times, comes as Trump said the U.S. is considering approving Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine, adding that they would be “a new step of aggression” in that country's war against Russia. If the administration provided the long-range missiles, it would...

This is necessary to end the war and ensure a just and lasting peace in UkraineLONDON, October 10. /TASS/. The United Kingdom, France, and Germany are working together on the potential expropriation of Russian sovereign assets, the UK prime minister's office said in a statement following a phone call between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Vladimir Zelensky. "Reflecting on his discussions with the leaders of France and Germany this morning, the Prime Minister said all three countries were united in wanting to drive progress towards using the full value of the immobilized Russian sovereign assets to end the war...

Ukrainian officials were left “bewildered and disappointed” by Vice President Joe Biden’s December 2015 trip to Kyiv, during which he gave a speech decrying corruption as a “cancer” — with the Ukrainians accusing the US of a “double standard” given Biden’s family ties to corrupt energy firm Burisma, a trove of newly declassified Obama-era intelligence reveals. In an extreme departure from normal practice, the report on Ukrainian displeasure was suppressed at the request of Biden’s then-national security adviser, Dr. Colin Kahl, and did not appear in the Presidential Daily Brief (PDB), according to a senior CIA official who briefed journalists...

Moscow is hopeful that Washington will hear its message on the potential supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, Maria Zakharova statedMOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/. If the United States makes the decision to supply Kiev with Tomahawk long-range missiles, it will do irreparable damage to US-Russian relations, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said. "A corresponding decision by the US administration, if made, will not just send the confrontation into a downward spiral, but also do irreparable damage to Russian-US relations, which have just begun to display certain elements indicating the resumption of a bilateral dialogue," the diplomat said,...

Potential supplies of these missiles will not be able to change the battlefield situation for the Kiev regime, Dmitry Peskov emphasizedMOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. Potential supplies of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kiev will be a serious spiral of escalation, since such weapons can be equipped with nuclear warheads, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said. "This will imply a serious spiral of escalation, which, however, will not be able to change the battlefield situation for the Kiev regime. But it is important to bear in mind in this context, putting aside various nuances, that these missiles can be equipped with...

Then-Vice President Joe Biden’s team intervened in February 2016 to prevent the CIA from disseminating an intelligence report to policymakers about the perceptions senior Ukrainian officials held about his son’s business dealings, newly declassified memos show. The request that the intelligence community withhold the report from others in the U.S. government by Biden’s national security advisor was “extremely rare and unusual,” a senior CIA official told Just the News. “I just spoke with VP/NSA and he would strongly prefer the report not/not be disseminated,” the vice president’s Presidential Daily Brief briefer told the CIA. “Thanks for understanding.” The report, reviewed...

Trump is clearly listening to the NEOCONS, and he may believe their BS that Russia’s economy is collapsing, so Russia can be defeated in three days, as Kinzinger was claiming. Mark Rubio is a Neocon. I believe Trump hired him as a compromise to the Neocons. But he is taking us into World War III in slow motion. Trump is listening to the wrong people, and he had better look unbiased at why Putin is being put into a precarious position. He has insulted the dignity of Russia and reduced it to a meaningless 4th-world country. If Putin is replaced...

fter barely six months in office, President Donald Trump has gone from peacemaker to warmonger. He attacked Iran and is threatening more strikes, bombarded Yemen’s Ansar Allah militants on behalf of Israel and Europe, is encouraging the former to conquer Gaza, and is increasing U.S. involvement in the Russia-Ukraine cataclysm.War with Russia is the most immediate danger. Its invasion of its neighbor was a tragedy, but requires U.S. avoidance, not involvement. Throughout most of America’s history, Ukraine has been ruled from Moscow. The Ukrainian people have long suffered under that relationship, but Washington never considered going to war on Kiev’s...

Most citizens say graft has increased since 2022, according to a new national poll Most Ukrainians have said corruption in the country has worsened since escalation of the conflict with Russia in February 2022, a new survey by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) has shown. In findings released on Friday, the poll revealed that 71% of respondents believe the level of corruption has increased over the past three years. Another 20% said they had not noticed any change, while only 5% felt the situation had improved. The survey was conducted over September 19-28 and included 1,029 participants across...

Russia plans to raise value-added tax (VAT) to help finance its war on Ukraine, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday. Under the draft 2026 budget proposal, the VAT rate would increase to 22% from the current 20%. The government said it would continue to meet all social policy commitments, but listed defence, security and support for soldiers and their families as "strategic priorities." Military and security spending already accounts for about 40% of total government expenditure in the 2025 budget, according to government estimates. Large state orders for the defence industry and hefty payments to soldiers and their families have...

If you read the latest Trump Truth (that is what he calls his posts on Truth Social) that is posted above, you will come to the reasonable conclusion that Trump has either changed his position on the war in Ukraine and accepted the delusional beliefs of General Kellogg or he is engaged in some massive sarcasm. Well, based on what happened subsequently at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), it looks like Trump was doing sarcasm. Following Trump’s meeting with Zelensky, France, Germany, the UK, and Ukraine proposed a resolution to the UNSC that called for an immediate ceasefire in...

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia is deliberately slowing its economic growth in order to suppress inflation. "As for the decline from more than 4% GDP growth: this is not a decline, it is a deliberate action. It is a slowdown in growth in exchange for curbing inflation and maintaining macroeconomic stability," Putin said during a televised meeting with top lawmakers. A graph published in Russian central bank's report earlier in September showed two consecutive quarters of gross domestic product (GDP) decline in quarter-on-quarter terms, aligning with the common definition of a technical recession.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the number of Russian servicemen currently in the war zone in Ukraine, APA's Moscow bureau reports. He noted at a meeting with the leaders of the State Duma factions that more than 700,000 Russian servicemen are currently on the line of contact.

The attack comes as Russia suffers fuel shortages following Ukrainian attacks that have cut 20 percent of Russia's oil refining capacity. Ukraine struck several Russian oil facilities overnight Friday, including one if its largest refineries and an oil depot, worsening the country’s crippling fuel shortages. Ukrainian drones targeted facilities including Russia's largest Rosneft refinery in Ryazan and an oil depot in occupied Luhansk Oblast, according to Ukraine's chief drone warfare commander Robert Brovdi. Images of the attack on social media that appeared to show a massive fireball erupting immediately after the strike.