Free Republic

Republican James E. Risch (Idaho) was in Ukraine, touring the country. He was escorted by Ukrainian forces because the State Department refused to provide him security once he crossed the Ukrainian border. He met with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, and came away with the conclusion that the current U.S. strategy has not properly adjusted to the latest phase of the fighting.Russian forces are pummeling Ukrainian civilian and military targets in the Donbas with their superior artillery. Ukrainian forces are still not receiving enough of the weapons that might give them the advantage — including long-range air defenses, longer-range artillery, heavy...

U.S. President Joe Biden said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ignored warnings that Russia would invade his country ahead of the February 24 aggression. "I know a lot of people thought I was maybe exaggerating, but I knew, and we had data to sustain, he was going in off the border. There was no doubt. And Zelensky did not want to hear it, nor did a lot of people," Biden said on Friday during a political fundraiser in Los Angeles. The U.S. president acknowledged that the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin launching a full-scale invasion may have seemed far-fetched, saying,...

LOS ANGELES (AP) – President Joe Biden, speaking to donors at a Democratic fundraiser, said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky “didn’t want to hear it” when U.S. intelligence gathered information that Russia was preparing to invade. The remarks came as Biden was talking about his work to rally and solidify support for Ukraine as the war continues into its fourth month.

President Joe Biden said new sanctions on Russia were about 'increasing the pain' on Russian President Vladimir Putin – whom he termed a 'brute' during a tense exchange with a reporter at a press conference in Brussels Thursday. -snip- 'I did not say that sanctions would in fact deter him. Sanctions never deter,' Biden lectured. 'You keep talking about that.'