Free Republic

"We urge Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes including Syria and Iran, and to instead join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and the defense of civilization itself," he said. Trump reiterated his criticism of low defense spending levels by many European nations and praised Poland for meeting the alliance's target of spending 2 percent of economic output on defense. "To those who would criticize our tough stance, I would point out that the United States has demonstrated not merely with words but with its...

Sitting alone at a desk in a grand, columned Kremlin room, Vladimir Putin looked across an expanse of parquet floor at his security council and asked if anyone wished to express an alternative opinion. He was met with silence. A few hours later, the Russian president appeared on state television to give an angry, rambling lecture about Ukraine, a country that in Putin’s telling had become “a colony with a puppet regime”, and had no historical right to exist.

The 4 p.m. remarks will come after Biden calls transatlantic leaders. President Joe Biden was set to speak to the nation Friday afternoon on what the White House said are U.S. efforts to ease tensions over Ukraine, amid increased shelling and possible false-flag attacks Russia could use to falsely justify an invasion. Biden will make remarks after he holds a call with translatlantic leaders to discuss continued efforts at deterrence and diplomacy and what the White House called "Russia's buildup of military troops on the border of Ukraine." -snip- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will participate in the call, along...

ro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine's breakaway regions ordered the evacuation of civilians to Russia Friday, accusing Ukraine of planning a large military offensive against the two self-declared republics. The restive eastern part of the country has witnessed the worst shelling in years over the last two days. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Friday that shelling of Ukrainian territory from areas controlled by separatists had risen dramatically in the past day. Each side accuses the other of heavy shelling of civilian areas. Ukrainian authorities say there were 60 breaches of the ceasefire Thursday, many of them by heavy weapons. The...

Senior U.S. officials pivoted Thursday from warning of the threat that Russia could soon invade Ukraine to the firm expectation the invasion is about to begin.What they're saying: “If Russia doesn’t invade, we will be relieved that Russia changed course and proved our predictions wrong," Secretary of State Tony Blinken said today. But both he and President Biden made quite clear that they believe Vladimir Putin has chosen war, and Blinken went so far as to present the playbook the U.S. expects Putin to follow.First, Blinken told the UN Security Council, Putin will need a pretext. That could involve a...

I just got a cryptic message from my nephew. He and his pals are getting ready to take a trip overseas. A big group, lots of packing. No other details available. I believe that uncle Joe is really going to do this thing. Please Pray for my nephew and his friends.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Mr. President, this council was convened today to discuss the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, a goal that we all share, despite Russia’s persistent violations. These agreements, which were negotiated in 2014 and 2015 and signed by Russia, remain the basis for the peace process to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine.