Free Republic

First, the country was a Nazi ally; then it became a NATO stooge. The latest allegation: It’s a reckless Russia-basher that deserves a ruthless response from the Kremlin. Who said Finland was boring? Amid all the focus on Russia’s war against Ukraine, it is easy to overlook another prime target of Moscow’s imperialist ire. Russia has long used a skewed interpretation of history as a weapon to attack and delegitimize its neighbors—and, if the Kremlin’s latest rhetorical escalation is any guide, it now has Finland in its gunsights. The Finns are understandably nervous, given recent precedent: In 2021, Russian leader...

The Russian delegation arrived in Istanbul to participate in negotiations with the Ukrainian side, which are scheduled to take place on June 2, News.Az informs via TASS. "The negotiating team has arrived in Istanbul," the agency's source said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian delegation led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky is ready to present a memorandum to Ukraine on all aspects of overcoming the root causes of the crisis in Istanbul on June 2.

Vladimir Putin’s chief delegate at peace talks with Ukraine is a historian who once claimed that Russians have an extra chromosome due to their superiority. -snip- Mr Medinsky also earned widespread ridicule after arguing that Russians were particularly heroic and able to survive hardship because they “have one extra chromosome”. While it is likely that he was trying to speak figuratively, the assertion, made in 2012, prompted scorn even within Russia, with critics pointing out that having an extra chromosome is associated less with genetic superiority than with conditions such as Down’s syndrome.