Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko to Moscow on Wednesday for two days of talks, but in their opening public remarks both men steered clear of the war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week the two leaders would discuss Lukashenko's call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. Last month Putin said Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. "I must say that we have done a lot as a result of our joint work in all areas," Putin told Lukashenko in comments broadcast by state television.

Russian officials plan to outline “the contours of a new world order” over the next month as Russia and China intensify their efforts to gain influence at the United Nations. “Our idea is to hold a comprehensive, forward-looking strategic discussion about the contours of a new world order that is coming to replace the unipolar one,” Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia, the top Russian envoy at the U.N., told state media. “This conversation is long overdue.” Nebenzia will play a prominent role in stage-managing that effort, as Russia’s upcoming turn as rotating president of the U.N. Security Council will allow Moscow to...

When Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow last month, China sent a cautionary rebuke to Russia about nuclear threats against Ukraine in a clear message to avoid nuclear war. Putin, who on several occasions had threatened to launch atomic weapons in retaliation against various battlefield escalations, signed onto a no use of nuclear weapons statement in a joint communique. Or at least he did for a few hours. Among the pledges listed, China and Russia agreed that “All nuclear-weapon states should refrain from deploying nuclear weapons abroad.” But no sooner had Xi left Moscow...