Free Republic

-snip- Asked about unconfirmed reports on Telegram and X that U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff may have flown into Moscow, Peskov said he had no information about the matter and that no meetings with him were on the agenda. Later on Tuesday, Rosaviatsia, Russia's aviation regulator, issued a statement in response to what it said were media questions and reports after flight tracking services showed a private jet landing in Moscow from the United States. The regulator said it was a one-off technical flight from Washington to Moscow related to "humanitarian cooperation" of a medical nature. It did not...

Ukraine is reported to have wiped out the entire command of Russia's 35th Brigade in a deadly missile strike. The attack was carried out using HIMARS missiles on the brigade's headquarters in the eastern town of Selydove. The town was captured by the Russians in October last year and lies just 11 miles northwest of the strategically important city of Pokrovsk. The attack was filmed by Ukrainian drones hovering close to the building, housing the headquarters. In a video posted to social media, a huge ball of flames rises from a building after the impact of the missiles. Thick black...

-snip- Serhiy Dubovik, deputy head of Ukraine's Central Election Commission, said it would take at least four to six months to prepare so that campaigning could start ahead of an election, given the displacement of voters and widespread destruction. Millions of Ukrainians still live abroad, millions more are internally displaced by the war, a fifth of Ukraine is occupied and front-line areas have been devastated. -snip- Zelenskyy's public trust rating is above 50%, according to opinion polls, although it has dropped since Russia's Feb. 24, 2022 invasion, when it rose to over 90% as Ukrainians rallied around the flag. The...

Syria has demanded reparations from Russia in order to "rebuild trust" after a meeting between Damascus' new administration and a Moscow delegation, according to local news sources. Russia and Syria's meeting to discuss future relations comes as Moscow looks to retain its two military bases in the Middle Eastern country. -snip- In the meeting on January 28, Russia expressed its support for the changes taking place in Syria and Damascus' new administration pushed for reparations through "compensation, reconstruction, and recovery," according to the Syrian Arab News Agency. The two countries also spoke about finding "mechanisms for transitional justice aimed at...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing a backlash from within the Kremlin over his pro-China policy, with elites fearing that Moscow is becoming a 'colony' of Beijing. Vladimir Putin is facing intense criticism from rival factions within the Kremlin over his China policy, which could worsen Russia's economic crisis, with earlier reports suggesting China is 'bailing' Russia out by buying distressed assets. Since the start of the Ukraine conflict - where Russia have endured huge personnel losses - in February 2022, Putin has strengthened political and economic ties with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, boosting their bilateral trade to a record...

Syria’s ruler Ahmad Al Shara has demanded that Russia hand over former president Bashar Al Assad and an estimated $2 billion dollars in liquid assets held by the Assad family in Russian banks, during a meeting in Damascus, two sources told The National. The meeting with a Russian delegation led by deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov also focused on other issues thorny but reached no agreement beyond maintaining contact, the sources said. “Handing over [Bashar Al] Assad and all senior officers who escaped to Russia was the top of the list,” said a member of the new political staff at...

A top ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin has advised him to remove Vladimir Lenin's body from a mausoleum in Moscow in order to seal his legacy as Moscow's leader. Alexander Dugin, a far-right political philosopher, has advised the president to remove Lenin's body from the burial site in order to "make room there for the real Emperor" and make other changes to the mausoleum, according to the Telegram post by the account Kremlin Snuffbox. -snip- The Russian philosopher also reportedly advised Putin to make improvements to the mausoleum by rebuilding the structure, decorating it with military trophies accumulated during...

"Disrespectful", "insulting", and "ill-informed." Donald Trump's threats aimed at strong-arming Moscow into ending its war in Ukraine have been badly received by some politicians and nationalists in Russia who say his tactics bode ill for a deal. -snip- Influential war bloggers, read by millions of Russians and licenced by the authorities, expressed outrage. One of them, Voenkor Kotonok, said Trump's statement was "insulting, arrogant and self-satisfied." Another, war correspondent Alexander Kots, speculated that the Middle East ceasefire had given Trump a misplaced sense of omnipotence. "Russia is not the Gaza Strip. And starting a dialogue with ultimatums is not the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed on Tuesday how to build ties with Donald Trump, prospects for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine and Moscow's firm support for Beijing's position on Taiwan. Xi and Putin, who spoke for an hour and 35 minutes by video call after Trump was sworn in as U.S. president on Monday -snip- Putin, 72, speaking from his Novo-Ogarevo residency outside Moscow and Xi, 71, speaking from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, called each other "dear friends", and Xi told Putin about a call with Trump...

“I think he should make a deal,” U.S. president says about the Kremlin chief. The war “is not making him look good.” Russia's war on Ukraine has landed Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in "big trouble," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday. "[Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy told me he wants to make a deal, I don’t know if Putin does ... He might not. I think he should make a deal. I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal," Trump said in the Oval Office on the first day of his second presidency. "I think, Russia is...

United States President Donald Trump stated that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would be "well-off" to end the war in Ukraine, adding that "he is not doing too well" and that Russia lost one million troops. "I have to speak to President Putin, we're gonna have to find out," Trump told reporters at the Oval Office after signing executive orders. "Russia's bigger they have more soldiers to lose but that's no way to run a country," said Trump of Putin. "Zelensky wants to make a deal. I don't know if Putin does. He should make a deal. I think he's...

Hostages expected to be released in the first phase are those who fall under the humanitarian category, such as women, children, elderly or wounded. Hamas confirmed on Sunday that 28-year-old Emily Damari, 23-year-old Romi Gonen, and 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher would be released on the first day of phase one of the hostage-ceasefire deal. The deal will see 33 hostages released in the first phase in exchange for the release of security prisoners, humanitarian aid, and an IDF withdrawal from some areas in Gaza. Israel will release 30 Palestinian detainees for every civilian hostage and 50 Palestinian detainees for every Israeli...

Scott Bessent said the US should increase sanctions on Russian oil producers to force Moscow to negotiate with Ukraine as he criticised the Biden administration for not being tougher on Vladimir Putin’s regime. The comments on Thursday by Donald Trump’s nominee to be Treasury secretary pushed up oil prices, as traders considered the prospect of tighter global crude supply. The new administration is also expected to target Iranian and Venezuelan oil with tougher sanctions as Trump seeks to increase economic pressure on the US’s adversaries.

Treasury Secretary-nominee Scott Bessent told senators Thursday that he would be “100 percent on board” with increasing sanctions on Russia’s major oil companies if President-elect Trump supports that strategy as a way to end the war in Ukraine. “If any officials in the Russian Federation are watching this confirmation hearing, they should know that if I’m confirmed and if President Trump requests as part of his strategy to end the Ukraine war, that I will be 100 percent on board for taking sanctions up, especially on the Russian oil majors, to levels that would bring the Russia Federation to the...

U.S. Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio on Wednesday accused “rough states” and “dictators” in North Korea, Russia and Iran of sowing “chaos” and “instability,” and China of having “lied, cheated and stolen” its way into a global superpower status at the expense of the United States. -snip- “In Moscow, in Tehran, in Pyongyang, dictators and rogue states now sow chaos and instability, and align with and they fund radical terror groups, and they hide behind their veto power at the U.N. Security Council or the threats of nuclear war,” he said in his opening statement. -snip- “We welcomed the...

The nominee argued that if Ukraine is not in a strong position to negotiate it will be imposed "neutrality" only for Russia to rearm and attack the country again. Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio highlighted the need to support Ukraine in its war with Russia in order for Kyiv to be in the best position possible to negotiate a ceasefire. Otherwise, he said, Russian President Vladimir Putin will seek to impose "neutrality" on the country to buy time and attempt another large-scale invasion. Rubio made the assessment while claiming the war needs to end and criticizing the Biden administration...