Free Republic

. . . Yet Zelenskyy’s fatal political error is negotiating for total victory as if it were already won. It isn’t. You don’t demand unconditional surrender when you lack the power to enforce it—and the wider the gap between rhetoric and reality, the sooner Ukraine risks the very outcome it claims to prevent: the loss of its statehood, on Russian terms. That delusion persists in Washington, kept alive by voices from the Biden-Blinken school of foreign policy romanticism—still peddling the fairy tale: one more tranche, one more package, one more spring. In reality, it buys Ukraine’s destruction—its soldiers bled out,...

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine would reject any Russian proposal to give up the Donbas region in exchange for a ceasefire, warning it could be used as a springboard for future attacks. Zelensky was speaking ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. Trump has said any peace deal would involve "some swapping of territories" and it is believed one of Putin's demands is that Kyiv surrenders the parts of the Donbas it still controls. Meanwhile Russia's troops have continued their summer offensive, making a sudden thrust near the...

"It is impossible to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine," Vladimir Zelensky said OSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. Ukraine will not recognize the decision taken at the Russia-US summit in Alaska without its participation, Vladimir Zelensky said. "It is impossible to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine, and no one will recognize that. That’s why this conversation may be important for their [Russia-US] bilateral track, but they cannot decide anything on Ukraine without us. I hope the US president understands that and takes into account," the head of the Kiev regime said at a forum. On August 8, Trump announced that he was...

Ukraine fears that the Kremlin will try to convince President Trump at U.S.-Russian talks in Alaska that Ukraine, not Russia, is the obstacle to peace.With President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin preparing to meet in Alaska on Friday, ending the Russian leader’s years of diplomatic isolation with the West, Ukraine’s sidelined leaders warned that the Kremlin would try to “deceive America” as Mr. Trump pushed to end the war.Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is determined to demonstrate that his country is not the obstacle to peace by emphasizing Kyiv’s willingness to accept an unconditional cease-fire, an idea that Russia has...

President Trump on Monday criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the leader’s resistance to cede territory to Russia, saying he disagrees “very, very severely” with Zelensky. “I get along with Zelensky, but, you know, I disagree with what he’s done, very, very severely disagree. This is a war that should have never happened,” Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to Russia’s more than three-year war in Ukraine. In an attempt to broker an end to the conflict, Trump announced Friday he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15. Trump has said the meeting...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of attempting to mislead Washington, a few days before a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska."We understand Russia's intention to try to deceive America – we will not allow this," Zelensky said in his evening video address on Sunday.The two presidents are set to meet Friday in Alaska to discuss a possible solution to the Ukraine war after more than three years of conflict. Zelensky was not invited.

We welcome President Trump’s work to stop the killing in Ukraine, end the Russian Federation’s war of aggression, and achieve just and lasting peace and security for Ukraine. We are convinced that only an approach that combines active diplomacy, support to Ukraine and pressure on the Russian Federation to end their illegal war can succeed. We stand ready to support this work diplomatically as well as by upholding our substantive military and financial support to Ukraine, including through the work of the Coalition of the Willing, and by upholding and imposing restrictive measures against the Russian Federation. We share the...

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is once again rejecting any consideration for President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss terms for a ceasefire without his involvement.On a Twitter storm Saturday, Zelenskyy rejected the thought of giving any Ukranian territory to Russia in exchange for peace. “The answer to the Ukrainian territorial question already is in the Constitution of Ukraine. No one will deviate from this—and no one will be able to. Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier,” Zelenskyy said.President Trump announced that he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15, in Alaska.Zelenskyy...

In the last few minutes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has given his first reaction to the announcement of a Trump-Putin meeting next week, saying Ukraine "will not give their land to occupiers". In a statement on the messaging app Telegram, Zelensky says any solutions without Ukraine will be "solutions against peace". This comes after US President Donald Trump announced a few hours ago that he will be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday 15 August to discuss the war in Ukraine. Trump signalled that Ukraine may have to cede territory in a peace deal with Russia, telling...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Saturday the planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning that any peace deal excluding Kyiv would lead to “dead solutions.”The Trump-Putin meeting, scheduled for Friday in Alaska, is seen as a potential breakthrough in the more than three-year war.Trump had previously agreed to meet with Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with Zelenskyy, stoking fears Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the continent’s biggest conflict since World War II.In a statement posted to Telegram, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s territorial integrity, enshrined...

0:00 - Video update from Limassol, Cyprus 0:45 - Confirmation of Trump-Putin summit 2:02 - Discussion on who initiated the summit process 4:53 - Speculation on potential deal terms between Trump and Putin 7:09 - Discussion on the possibility of a trilateral meeting with Zelensky 8:44 - Analysis of potential outcomes from the Trump-Putin meeting 10:28 - Trump's strategy regarding sanctions and military support for Ukraine 12:10 - Update on the U.S.-Russia relations and Trump’s approach to BRICS 19:00 - Trump's tariffs on BRICS countries 23:12 - BRICS response to U.S. tariffs and unity among members 28:19 - Lindsey Graham's...

US Trump talking to Ukraine's Zelenskyy hours after Putin-Witkoff meeting Both Axios and Reuters are reporting that US president Donald Trump is now speaking with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday confirmed he discussed a trilateral meeting to include Russian President Vladimir Putin, potentially as soon as next week, in a call with President Donald Trump one day prior. Zelenskyy – who echoed comments issued by Trump on Wednesday and said the discussion was also held with European leaders – called on Putin to "be brave" and take the meeting. "Yesterday, various potential formats for leader-level meetings to bring peace were also discussed – two bilateral and one trilateral," he said in a post on X. "Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the...

The Kremlin is reportedly set to offer concessions on the Ukraine war to U.S. President Donald Trump to avoid imminent sanctions on the country. Bloomberg detailed on Tuesday that one such proposal could include an air truce. Quoting Russian officials, it added that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Russia this week presents a chance to reach an agreement. The official is expected to go to the country as soon as Wednesday and could potentially meet with Putin. -snip- Bloomberg noted that despite Putin's willingness to continue fighting, two-thirds of Russians favor ending the war at the current positions. A...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that he had had a "productive" conversation with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on ending the war, sanctions on Russia and the finalisation of a U.S.-Ukraine drone deal. Trump, who has signalled frustration with Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, has given the Russian president until August 8 to make peace in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions. "President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities," Zelenskiy wrote on X, referring to intensifying drone and missile attacks. Trump has threatened to hit Russia with new sanctions and impose...

Even after the Ukraine war ends, Russia will continue to pose a threat to its neighbours unless the world works to “change the Regime” in Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday morning. Russia’s leadership is mentally “stuck in another era” and rejects the “post World War Two” world order, warned President Zelensky as he called for regime change against Moscow to remove the threat permanently. Addressing an Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) conference remotely by a video link plagued with technical difficulties, when he could be heard the Ukrainian leader decried fresh overnight airstrikes by...

The National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine has long been a battleground in Ukrainian politics, where graft is rifeKYIV, Ukraine—Youthful protesters at the biggest demonstration here since Russia’s 2022 invasion were championing a cause that, at first glance, seemed unusual in a country known for its revolutions: the power of a law-enforcement agency.In a country that has spent more than three decades of its independence fighting the dual scourges of Russian aggression and crippling corruption, the establishment of the agency under U.S. pressure in 2015 was seen as a watershed that could boost Ukraine’s economy and accelerate its integration with the...

Ukrainian forces are holding back Russia’s concerted summer push to break through defenses along parts of the front line, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says. “They are not advancing. It’s very tough for our guys out there. And it’s tough everywhere,” Zelenskyy told reporters on Thursday, in comments embargoed till Friday. “It’s also very hard for the Russians — and that’s good for us.” With the war now in its fourth year after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its neighbor, the effort is draining resources on both sides, although Russia has more resources and people to sustain its fight. Ukraine is...

Activists on Wednesday called for more protests of a new law that they say weakens Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdogs, following the first major anti-government demonstration in over three years of war. The legislation, which has also drawn rebukes from European Union officials and international rights groups, has put increased pressure on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and endangered his public support at a critical phase of the war. Also on Wednesday, delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul for a third round of talks in as many months. The talks appeared to have lasted less than an hour and yielded no breakthroughs....

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday submitted a new bill that would restore the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies in an effort to defuse tensions following his approval earlier this week of a controversial law that weakened their autonomy. The previous bill was seen as undermining the agencies’ independence and sparked a public outcry and protests, the first major demonstrations since the war began, as well as sharp criticism from the European Union. Zelenskyy said parliament would review the new bill, which “guarantees real strengthening of Ukraine’s law enforcement system, the independence of anti-corruption bodies, and reliable protection of the legal...