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WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - The United States is sounding out close allies about the possibility of imposing new sanctions on China if Beijing provides military support to Russia for its war in Ukraine, according to four U.S. officials and other sources. The consultations, which are still at a preliminary stage, are intended to drum up support from a range of countries, especially those in the wealthy Group of 7 (G7), to coordinate support for any possible restrictions. It was not clear what specific sanctions Washington will propose. The conversations have not been previously disclosed. The U.S. Treasury Department, a...

International conflict cries out for statesmanship. It calls for the kind of leadership that rises above the passions of the moment, takes the long view, considers the legitimate interests of all, and looks for creative solutions. The temperament of statesmanship is prudence and restraint. This type of leadership requires not only relevant experience but a historical perspective, critical distance to the present, and imagination. There also can be no statesmanship, no diplomacy, without empathy, that is, a willingness to see a conflict from the point of view of opponents. Neither can there be any compromise and relaxation of tensions without...

"NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will become a member of our alliance,..." Stoltenberg told reporters at a news conference with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Helinski..."The issue now is to ensure that Ukraine prevail as a sovereign, independent nation, and therefore we need to support Ukraine," he added...In response to Russia's aggression, Finland and Sweden reversed their longstanding policies of military neutrality and applied to join NATO in May 2022...the process for those countries to join NATO would soon be complete.

Former President Donald Trump early Tuesday warned that President Joe Biden's policies on Ukraine could lead to a third World War. "If you watch and understand the moves being made by Biden on Ukraine, he is systematically, but perhaps unknowingly, pushing us into what could soon be WORLD WAR III," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social page. "How crazy is that?" Trump's comment came after Biden met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday following a secretive trip to the war-torn nation's capital city of Kyiv, traveling there one day before Russian President Vladimir Putin's address to...

Speaking at a Club 45 rally in Palm Beach, Florida on George Washington’s Birthday, President Donald Trump explained what he would do to put an end to the war in Ukraine if he were reelected: “I would literally start calling, not from the day I took over, but from the night I won. And I’ll call two people… Putin… and Zelensky. And I’ll say we’re going to meet. I guarantee I could work that out. I’ll tell one guy this, and I’ll tell one guy that… We would have a deal made in 24 hours,” Trump said.Trump said that “continuing...

ransomnote: It looks like the Ukrainians may be preparing a radioactive false flag to blame on Russia (See the two boxed FR posts below). Why else would the Ukraine receive 'containers of radioactive materials' and train their own troops near the Chernobyl exclusion zone?Zelensky went on record calling for 'pre-emptive' nuclear strikes on Russia back in October of 2022, and as NATO is losing the proxy war, they want to justify nuke strikes now more than ever.Ukraine Frantically Tries to Walk Back Zelensky Call for ‘Preemptive Strikes’ on Russia 10/07/2022 7:55:14 AM PDT · by ChicagoConservative27 · 125 replies Breitbart...

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that Moscow was suspending its participation in the New START treaty — the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States — sharply upping the ante amid tensions with Washington over the fighting in Ukraine. Speaking in his state-of-the-nation address, Putin also said that Russia should stand ready to resume nuclear weapons tests if the U.S. does so, a move that would end a global ban on nuclear weapons tests in place since Cold War times. Explaining his decision to suspend Russia’s obligations under New START, Putin accused the...

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia was suspending its participation in the New START treaty with the United States that limits the two sides' strategic nuclear arsenals.

The establishment media and politicians would have us believe the Ukraine War is all about a plucky underdog repelling a bullying, much larger neighbor. In reality it’s about much more than that – among other things a key U.S. objective of this proxy war is to prevent Russia and Germany from aligning and creating a trans-European alliance that could challenge American economic hegemony across the globe. ...

The White House's John Kirby — who seems to work as a pinch hitter on tough briefing days for Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as much as he does his day job as the National Security Council's Coordinator for Strategic Communications — hit the airwaves on Sunday and renewed strong denials of any U.S. involvement in the sabotage of Russia's Nord Stream pipeline. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Kirby was asked by host Shannon Bream about a report by award-winning journalist Seymour Hersch that Townhall covered in early February. As Leah reported when the story first ran: A bombshell report by...

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who is currently on a bipartisan congressional trip in Europe, issued a scathing rebuke of President Joe Biden’s visit to Ukraine on Monday, describing the visit as a “strategic failure.” Issa, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who has served in Congress for two decades, made the statement while in neighboring Poland. “President Biden was right to make his trip to Ukraine. And we recognize the hundreds of American officials who worked long and hard to make this a secure visit,” Issa said. “But while today was a logistical success, it was a...

“I am honored to be welcomed again in Kyiv,” Biden, 80, wrote in the message, which he left for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the guestbook at Ukraine’s Royal Palace. “I stand in solidarity and friendship with the freedom loving people of Ukraine. Mr. President, please accept my deepest respect for your courage and leadership. “Slava Ukraini!” Biden concluded, deploying the rallying cry that means “Glory to Ukraine!” Accompanying an image of the letter, Biden tweeted: “Kyiv has captured a part of my heart. I knew I would be back.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned China in a newspaper interview on Monday against supporting Russia in its war on Ukraine and said doing so would bring on a world war. "For us, it is important that China does not support the Russian Federation in this war," Zelenskyy told German daily Die Welt. "In fact, I would like it to be on our side. At the moment, however, I don't think it's possible."“But I do see an opportunity for China to make a pragmatic assessment of what is happening here,” he added. “Because if China allies itself with Russia, there will...

Beneath Moldova's soaring parliament building, a parade of its most precarious file slowly past - bussed in by the thousand from across the country, each with their private tale of poverty and frustration. "When we elected this government, they promised to raise salaries and pensions, but so far we haven't seen a penny," she says. Sunday's protests, organised by Moldova's pro-Russian Sor party, are being closely watched by governments across Europe and beyond. Most protesters travelled to the capital city Chisinau by bus, with their costs reportedly covered by the Sor party. Moldova, strategically located on the border with Ukraine,...

U.S. intelligence suggests China is considering providing arms and ammunition to Russia, an involvement in the Kremlin’s war effort that would be a “serious problem,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Blinken said the United States long has been concerned that China would provide weapons to Russia. He pointed to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s promise to Russian President Vladimir Putin of a partnership with “no limits” when they met just weeks before Putin sent his troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Since then, ties between the two countries have only grown stronger. “We’ve been watching this very, very closely....

Johannes Fromholt is currently near the frontline in Donetsk Oblast and has been describing the support the UN is providing. “I am currently in Kurakhove, which is close to the frontline. We see heavy fighting, which has intensified even in the past week. We came here as part of a UN interagency humanitarian convoy, to provide communities with humanitarian assistance. Of course, there is extensive damage; some towns in this area are 80 to 90 per cent damaged, some even more. So actually, you could say they don't even exist anymore. Even on the way to Kurakhove a missile strike...

Two leading House Republicans have called on President Joe Biden to increase military support to Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion and reiterated support on both sides of the aisle for continuing to fund the Ukrainian war effort. Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN’s Pamela Brown on “State of the Union” in a joint interview with House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner that aired Sunday that bipartisan support for Ukraine is “still very strong.” But as the one-year anniversary of the war approaches, McCaul warned that hedging support for Ukraine could prolong...

After a year of hard fighting there are a rush of observers trying to make sense of the current balance of power in Ukraine. The focus in often on (often small) movements in the frontlines, casualties, or the performance of particular platforms and systems. Those things matter, but wars are not generally fought to take individual trenches or solely to inflict casualties. They are fought for strategic objectives. In this episode I dig into Russia's history of Empire, its modern strategic objectives, and try to assess whether or not the war in Ukraine represents a success or failure by Russia's...

Russia has deployed around 97% of its troops as it tries to step up its offensive in eastern Ukraine — but it still lacks the manpower to “punch through” Kyiv’s defenses. a top British military official said Wednesday. UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told the BBC that Russia had yet to make a breakthrough in the eastern region of Ukraine despite its advances. “We haven’t actually seen this massing of a single force to punch through in a big offensive. We’ve just seen an effort to advance, and that has come at a huge cost to the Russian army,” he...

LIMA, Ohio (AP) — Thousands of miles from the front lines, a sprawling manufacturing plant in the small midwestern city of Lima, Ohio, is playing a critical role in the effort to arm Ukraine as it fends off the Russian invasion. Owned by the Army and operated by General Dynamics, the plant is expected to refurbish Abrams tanks for the U.S. to send to Ukraine, and is already preparing to build an updated version of the vehicle for Poland, U.S. Army officials said Thursday as they toured the facility.