Free Republic

The Kremlin said on Monday it had yet to receive any signals from the United States about arranging a possible meeting between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump, but remained ready to organise such an encounter. "So far, we have not received any signals from the Americans", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. "(Russia's) readiness (for a meeting) remains, and the same readiness, as far as we have heard, remains on the American side. Apparently, a certain amount of time is required (to set something up)," he said.

A large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Russia triggered an earthquake-sized blast at a major arsenal in the Tver region on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of a nearby town, war bloggers and some media reported. Unverified video and images on social media showed a huge ball of flame blasting high into the night sky and multiple detonations thundering across a lake about 380 km (240 miles) west of Moscow. NASA satellites picked up intense heat sources emanating from an area of about 14 square kilometres (5 square miles) at the site in the early hours and earthquake monitoring stations picked up...

LONDON (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine should negotiate an end to their conflict to avoid the war spilling over into Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko, a key ally of Vladimir Putin, said in an interview with Russian state television. Lukashenko was speaking against the backdrop of a Ukrainian incursion into Russia that began on Aug. 6 when thousands of Kyiv's troops smashed through Russia's western border in a major embarrassment for Putin's top military brass. In a wide-ranging interview, Lukashenko said that only "high-ranking people of American origin" wanted the Ukraine-Russia war to continue. The West, he said, was encouraging Kyiv...

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday that Dmitry Bulgakov, a former deputy defense minister, had been arrested and charged with corruption, the Interfax news agency reported. -snip- He served as deputy defense minister until he was replaced in 2022 and is the recipient of several top military and civilian awards, including the Hero of Russia award, the country’s highest honour. -snip- Bulgakov, who was in charge of military logistics until he was dismissed in September 2022, is the latest in a string of high-profile defense ministry figures to have been charged with corruption.