Free Republic

Vladimir Putin today issued a chilling new threat to use nuclear weapons against the West, telling world leaders to back off Ukraine while warning: 'I'm not bluffing'. The desperate despot also ordered the mobilisation of 300,000 military reserves - a first in Russia since the Second World War - and gave the go-ahead for referendums to be held in occupied areas of Ukraine that would make them a part of Russia, in the Kremlin's eyes at least. He vowed to use 'all means' to defend the regions, saying: 'If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will use...

(Reuters) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he had signed a decree saying foreign buyers must pay in rubles for Russian gas from April 1, and contracts would be halted if these payments were not made. "In order to purchase Russian natural gas, they must open ruble accounts in Russian banks. It is from these accounts that payments will be made for gas delivered starting from tomorrow," Putin said in televised remarks. "If such payments are not made, we will consider this a default on the part of buyers, with all the ensuing consequences. Nobody sells us...

(CNSNews.com) -- While the United States now is utilizing its missile defense systems in the wake of saber-rattling by North Korea, back on July 24, 2001, then Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) chaired a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in which he said in a prepared statement, “I worry that a narrow-minded pursuit of missile defense” would “derail” U.S. negotiations with the Communist-run North Korea. In his statement, Biden criticized the Bush administration proposal for a missile defense system, questioning whether the costs of missile defense outweighed its benefits. “I worry that funds devoted to missile defense, or the recent tax...