Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday gave African leaders seeking to mediate in the war in Ukraine a list of reasons why he believed many of their proposals were misguided, pouring cold water on a plan already largely dismissed by Kyiv. The African leaders were seeking agreement on a series of “confidence building measures”, even as Kyiv last week began a counteroffensive to push back Russian forces from the swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine that they occupy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after meeting them in Kyiv on Friday that peace talks would require Moscow to withdraw its forces...

Members of the Russian elite are turning against the Ukraine war, Bloomberg reported. They best they can hope for is losing without humiliation, the report said. However Putin shows no sign of wanting to end the conflict, it said. Many members of Russia's elite are growing doubtful about the ability of their president, Vladimir Putin, to win the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported. The best they can hope for is a "frozen" conflict or a loss in which Russia isn't humilated, the report said. Despite this deepening gloom, Putin shows no sign of wishing to end the war, according to...