Free Republic

Kirill Dmitriev — Vladmir Putin’s special envoy and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund — is suddenly ubiquitous. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been largely quiet since his maximalist negotiating approach with Team Trump failed. Moscow, presumably largely guided by Lavrov, after winning a concession on Tomahawk missiles, opted to continue Putin’s hardline demands for ending the war in Ukraine ahead of the proposed Trump-Putin summit in Budapest. NATO would have to admit that it was the root cause of the war. Kyiv would have to cede all of the Donbas, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine would...

Summer heat, outdoor fun ... and cold and flu symptoms? The three may not go together in many people's minds: partly owing to common myths about germs and partly because many viruses really do have lower activity levels in the summer. But it is possible to get the sniffles — or worse — in the summer. Federal data released Friday, for example, shows COVID-19 is trending up in most states, with emergency department visits up among people of all ages. Here's what to know about summer viruses. How much are colds and flu circulating right now? The number of people...

In a drastic reversal of Biden-era policies, the Trump Administration has declared that it will no longer fund the Ukrainian war–directly. However, America is still keen on profiting from the war through the vast military-industrial complex, as Vice President J.D. Vance alluded to in a recent interview. The war will NOT be profitable for America or anyone else in the end, but for now, they are seeking opportunities. Trump-Vance campaigned on a promise to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. They assured the American public that the war in Europe would not be America’s responsibility. Ending direct aid to Ukraine was merely...