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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday he and U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg had held a good meeting and discussed exerting pressure on Russia to hold "real talks" on ending more than three years of war, APA reports citing Reuters. "A good meeting with the special U.S. presidential envoy Keith Kellogg," Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "We discussed how to exert influence on Russia, oblige them to hold real talks on ending the war ... We are ready to talk in a format with leaders. This is needed to resolve key issues." Zelenskyy said Ukraine valued the "readiness...

Two years ago today, a small plane exploded in mid-air over Russia and killed all 10 people on board, including the infamous Yevgeny Prigozhin. The 62-year-old billionaire was the head of a mercenary gang called the Wagner Group. His abrupt end, however, came just two months after his bold - some would say barmy - decision to march his team towards the Moscow in an act of utter defiance against Mad Vlad's authority. Formerly an ally of the Russian dictator, he went from being Putin's chef to public enemy number one of the Kremlin. Below we take a look at...

The fuel shortage is becoming increasingly acute in Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine, APA reports, citing Russian "Telegram" channels. It is reported that currently in a number of Russian regions there are kilometers of queues of cars in front of gas stations, and the population complains about the low quality and high prices of fuel. Officials say that the gasoline shortage is due to ongoing repairs at a number of large oil refining plants and increased planting and harvesting work in agriculture. Regular attacks by Ukrainian drones on oil refineries also contribute to the fuel shortage.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the country was dismissed regarding its concern about NATO expansion. "We emphasized that the security of one nation or a group of nations cannot come at the expense of another's security. This principle is enshrined in international agreements that all parties have ratified," Putin said. "Yet, in practice, what transpired?" Putin continued. "One NATO expansion after another. We were consistently reassured, 'there's nothing to fear; it doesn't pose a threat to you.' When we expressed our concerns, asserting that we believed it did threaten us, what was the response? Nothing at all. We...

Lines of Russian troops in desert khaki greeted President Vladimir V. Putin in Syria in 2017. Declaring that Moscow had accomplished its mission in Syria’s civil war, Mr. Putin pledged that Russia was there to stay. “If the terrorists raise their heads again,” he said on the tarmac of a Russian air base, “we will deal unprecedented strikes unlike anything they have seen.” But over the last two weeks, as the rebels that Russia called terrorists swept across Syria aiming to topple one of Russia’s closest allies, President Bashar al-Assad, those “unprecedented” strikes were nowhere to be seen. Instead, with...

Welcome to The New Hobbit Hole Concerning Hobbits The New Hobbit Chronicles This is a continuation of the infamous thread New Zealander Builds Hobbit Hole originally posted on January 26, 2001 by John Farson, who at the time undoubtedly thought he had found a rather obscure article that would elicit a few replies and die out. Without knowing it, he became the founder of the Hobbit Hole. For reasons incomprehensible to some, the thread grew to over 4100 replies. It became the place for hobbits and friends of hobbits to chit chat and share LoTR news and views, hang out,...