Free Republic

AP — Russia and Ukraine have no direct peace talks scheduled, the Kremlin said Thursday, nearly a week after their first face-to-face session since shortly after Moscow’s invasion in 2022 and days after U.S. President Donald Trump said they would start ceasefire negotiations “immediately.” “There is no concrete agreement about the next meetings,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “They are yet to be agreed upon.” During two hours of talks in Istanbul on May 16, Kyiv and Moscow agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, in what would be their biggest such swap. Apart from that step, the...

The British maritime security firm warns that "should a future Russia-Ukraine peace agreement fail to address EU-UK sanctions on Russian hydrocarbon exports, Russia is likely to reallocate its security resources, previously concentrated on the Black Sea, to the Baltic region"LONDON, May 20. /TASS/. Attempts by European nations to detain allegedly Russia-linked merchant ships in the Baltic Sea are heightening the risk of "non-linear warfare" between NATO and Russia, according to a report by the British maritime security firm Ambrey. The assessment indicates that, in the near term, there will be "heightened maritime security risks, particularly around vessels transporting oil from...

President Donald Trump said his call with Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Monday went very well and that Moscow and Kyiv "will immediately start negotiations" toward a ceasefire and end to the war. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, "Just completed my two hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well. Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War. The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation...

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov revealed on Monday that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his United States colleague Donald Trump is not being "in preparation" at this time, according to RIA Novosti. Meanwhile, Trump and Putin are expected to speak on the phone at 10 am ET. The White House further explained Trump also plans to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after speaking with Putin. The US president is expected to issue a statement after his conversation with Putin.

Russian state TV aired a video of Vladimir Putin warning Donald Trump to stop trying to dictate the terms of a ceasefire with Ukraine. Putin stressed that he plans to finish what he started three years ago and warned that Trump should not push him into a US blueprint for stopping the war.

U.S. and European diplomats went on a flurry of calls in the hours after U.S. President Donald Trump offered on Monday to join prospective Ukraine-Russia talks later this week, trying to find a path that would bring an end to the war in Ukraine. Trump's surprise offer to join the talks on Thursday in Istanbul came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a fresh twist to the stop-start peace talks process, said he would travel Turkey and wait to meet President Vladimir Putin there. -snip- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks late on Monday with his Turkish...

Putin could reject his own offer to Zelensky. UKRAINE is now piling the pressure on Russia as Vladimir Putin stays silent on his own offer to meet for peace talks on Thursday. Moscow's bungle has seen Volodymyr Zelenksy take up Vlad's offer to for a face-to-face meet in Istanbul for long-awaited negotiations between the two leaders. But the Kremlin has gone deathly silent as Putin weighs rejecting the offer he sent to the Ukrainians. Zelensky has filled the dead air and now said he will definitely go to Istanbul - but will only meet with his counterpart Putin and not...

Trump ‘thinking about’ joining Ukraine peace talks in Turkey Donald Trump said he could join Russia and Ukraine for talks on ending the war in Turkey on Thursday. The US president said on Monday that he was “thinking” of flying to Istanbul for negotiations after visits to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. “I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday. I’ve got so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen, but we’ve...

US President Donald Trump has described the upcoming May 15 meeting between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul as "very important," APA reports. Speaking to journalists, Trump expressed hope for a positive outcome from the talks between Moscow and Kyiv representatives. "The Thursday meeting with Russia and Ukraine is very important. I’ve been very insistent on making this meeting happen. I believe something good could come out of it," he said.

Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed he will personally attend landmark peace talks on Thursday with Russia in a direct ultimatum to Vladimir Putin. Writing on social media on Sunday afternoon, Ukraine's President said he "will be waiting" in Istanbul for his Russian counterpart to sit down and negotiate.

The Kremlin announces that Putin is set to make an announcement shortly. The statement will be issued in one hour. Putin is reportedly meeting with the security council right now. The 3-day ceasefire in Ukraine is set to end in 1 hour 10 minutes. Interesting timing.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “full, unconditional ceasefire” with Russia for at least 30 days starting on Monday, Ukrainian FM Andrii Sybiha said Saturday. His remarks came as the leaders of four major European countries visited Kyiv, amid a push for Moscow to agree to a truce and launch peace talks on ending the nearly three-year war. They followed what Sybiha said was a “constructive” phone call between them, U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Saturday also marked the last day of a unilateral three-day ceasefire declared by Russia...

Ukrainian President Zelensky and the leaders of several NATO countries spoke on Saturday with President Trump and stressed they are ready for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting Monday, Ukraine's foreign minister said. -snip- Trump called for a 30-day ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war earlier this week. While Ukraine agreed, the Kremlin hasn't given a clear answer so far. -snip- The leaders of France, U.K., Germany and Poland visited Kyiv on Saturday and met with Zelensky to discuss the ceasefire plan. At the end of the meeting Zelensky and the European leaders called Trump and briefed him on their position. "Ukraine...

European leaders have called US President Donald Trump to discuss proposals for a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine from Monday while on a visit to Kyiv. The call came after leaders of the so-called "coalition of the willing" held a meeting to discuss advancing peace talks. The leaders of France, Germany, the UK and Poland were hosted in person by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, while others joined remotely. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the coalition backed a "full and unconditional" ceasefire - originally mooted by Trump - and that the EU was ready to "impose further...

Ukraine fired drones at Moscow days before Vladimir Putin was set to host world leaders at a Victory Day parade through the capital. Russia was forced to cancel Second World War anniversary events in occupied Crimea because of security concerns. Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, has said he cannot guarantee the safety of delegates attending the march through Moscow on Friday, which will be attended by Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader. ...It came as Ukrainian forces launched a second incursion into the Russian region of Kursk, breaking across the border and destroying bridges. On Monday Kyiv fired dozens of drones...

President Donald Trump on Monday said he held a "productive" call with Turkish President Recep Erdogan on a range of topics, including the war between Russia and Ukraine. Trump shared details of the call in a post on his TRUTH Social platform. "I just had a very good and productive telephone conversation with the President of Turkey, Recep Erdoğan, concerning many subjects, including the War with Russia/Ukraine, all things Syria, Gaza, and more," Trump wrote. The president added that he is looking forward to working with Erdogan to end the "ridiculous, but deadly" Russia-Ukraine war.

An airfield belonging to Russian forces in occupied Crimea has been left in flames after a devastating Ukrainian drone strike, according to reports. Footage shared online purportedly shows the fire at Kacha airfield following a huge round of strikes from Kyiv's forces. Reports suggest Ukraine launched a massive aerial bombardment overnight on the Ukrainian peninsula, which has been occupied by Russian forces since 2014 and illegally annexed by Moscow. Loud explosions were heard near the Saky airfield in Novofedorivka, as well as at the Belbek air base near Sevastopol. A missile base in the Hvardiiske area was also reported to...

Powerful explosions are heard in many cities in Crimea, with eyewitnesses reporting attacks and strikes on military airfields in Sevastopol and Novofedorivka, according to the Telegram channels Krymskyi Veter and the partisan movement ATESH. According to eyewitnesses, around midnight Kyiv time, a powerful explosion occurred in the Feodosia area near the Crimean market. Later, public pages reported the launch of at least 15 drones from Cape Chauda. At 00:41, a loud explosion was heard on the northern side of Sevastopol, and at 01:08, there was an explosion near the airport in Simferopol. In Sevastopol, the Russian authorities reported the alleged...

Russian Security Council Deputy Chair Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president, referred to Ukraine as "a disappearing country" in a post on Telegram. "But Trump has finally broken the Kiev regime into paying for American aid with minerals. Now they will have to pay for military supplies with the national wealth of a disappearing country," Medvedev said, according to a Google translation of part of his post. The Russian official also noted President Donald Trump's ratings have declined. "And the US Senate, led by Republicans, is preparing to introduce more ‘crushing sanctions’ against us. Let's see how the new administration...

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday it was up to residents of Volgograd to decide whether the city should revert to the name of Stalingrad, as it was called when Soviet forces defeated Nazi invaders in World War Two's bloodiest battle. Ahead of next week's commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany, the issue has been raised of restoring the wartime name of the southern Russian city. Putin, quoted by state news agency RIA, was asked at a forum about restoring the city's former name - a sensitive...