Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent rival teams to Washington for talks with the Trump administration as ceasefire negotiations for the war in Ukraine are underway, according to an independent investigative Russian news outlet. On Thursday, Kirill Dmitriev, a businessman and Putin's investment envoy, announced that he is in Washington this week to hold talks with U.S. officials. The official, who runs Russia's sovereign wealth fund, is meeting Trump ally Steve Witkoff at Putin's request, he said. Putin also gave the go-ahead for another rival team to engage in talks with Washington, news site Agentstvo reported on Thursday. The two teams...

George Aref Nader, who was a key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, was arrested on child pornography charges Monday in New York, federal prosecutors announced Monday. Nader was arrested upon arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport for "transporting visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct." He previously pleaded guilty to the same charge in 1991, the Justice Department said. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 40 years.

A Russian official is expected to visit Washington, D.C., this week for talks with the Trump administration, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing a U.S. official and two sources familiar with the plans. The official, Kirill Dmitriev, will meet with Steve Witkoff, a Trump administration official, for talks about strengthening relations between the two countries as they seek to end the war in Ukraine, according to CNN.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said his country won't accept peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, following high-level talks with the US in Saudi Arabia. "Any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything. It is of course completely unacceptable," he said. Russia and the US said they had agreed to appoint teams to start negotiating the end of the war. "Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one", US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said following the meeting. Ukraine was not invited...

The health ministry of Russia approved a flu drug to be used in the fight against the deadly novel coronavirus after the preliminary testing showed promising results. The drug "Avifavir" -- a generic version of the Japanese flu drug "Avigan" -- has been granted a temporary registration certificate as Russia's first COVID-19 drug, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)’s official statement. RDIF has been taking several effective steps in fighting the pandemic, which included a project to diagnose and treat COVID-19-related pneumonia using CT scans and artificial intelligence technology. Avifavir has been used to treat severe forms of...

A major witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation was arrested Monday on child-pornography charges, after flying into the U.S. for the first time since his cooperation with Mr. Mueller’s team. George Nader, a dual U.S. and Lebanese citizen, was charged in a criminal complaint more than a year ago, in April 2018, after he had spent hours with Mr. Mueller’s investigators detailing his contacts with Trump allies and efforts to set up meetings between Trump campaign associates and a Russian businessman close to President Vladimir Putin. Nobody connected to the Trump campaign was charged as a result of Mr....

Buried in special counsel Robert Mueller's 400-plus page report is the question of whether then-president-elect Donald Trump attended a 2016 championship chess tournament — an event that came under scrutiny as Mueller probed possible collusion between Trump's orbit and the Russian government. Although Trump said he did not attend the event, he told Mueller in written answers that he became "aware of documents indicating" that then-president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov — a sanctioned Russian power player — invited the Trump Organization in March 2016 to host the tournament at Trump Tower. "I do not remember having...

Erik Prince, the founder of private security company Blackwater, has found himself embroiled in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of potential coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. During the campaign, Prince reportedly met at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr., operative George Nader, and social media specialist Joel Zamel to discuss a potential pro-Trump social media influence operation. He also met with Russian sovereign wealth fund manager Kirill Dmitriev during the transition period—a meeting reportedly planned to set up a backchannel between the Trump administration and Russia. Those revelations raise questions about his relationship to the Trump administration—questions...