Free Republic

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he would seek to keep his country out of any military conflict arising under NATO’s collective-defense clause, publicly questioning whether Slovakia should send thousands of troops to defend an ally. Speaking to students and hospital employees in the eastern city of Prešov, Fico criticized what he described as increasingly belligerent rhetoric among European leaders and asked whom Europe intended to fight. “For God’s sake, who do we want to fight? With whom?” Fico said during the event, as his Facebook page reposted. Fico did not identify Russia as a potential aggressor or source of...

The Trump administration is reportedly considering business deals with Russia before the war in Ukraine ends, marking a potential shift from Washington’s previous position that economic ties with Moscow should follow a peace agreement. The administration is weighing whether to conclude separate economic agreements with Moscow even without a broader settlement of the war, according to two people familiar with the talks cited by The New York Times. A US official told the newspaper that such deals could move forward because they would “show that the United States is serious about a reset relationship with Russia.” The administration also wants...