Free Republic

A suggestion by the Trump administration’s top negotiator that an Ukraine peace deal would be based on talks conducted in Istanbul nearly three years ago has buoyed Russian officials and spooked Ukraine and its backers. To Kyiv, recent remarks by Steve Witkoff appeared to embrace the Kremlin’s key, and incorrect, talking point over the past three years: that Ukraine and Russia were about to strike a peace deal in Istanbul, and that Kyiv walked away from an agreement under pressure from Western politicians, such as then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demanded that any future...

A senior North Korean general was wounded in a recent Ukrainian strike in the Kursk area, a Western official said Thursday. It is the first time that Western officials have confirmed that a high-ranking North Korean military officer has become a casualty in the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Russian forces have conducted a series of operations against the U.S.-led coalition in Syria this month, including one this week at a strategically located base in the southern part of the country, U.S. military officials said. The Russian actions have alarmed U.S. military officials, who are concerned that a miscalculation might escalate into an unintended conflict between the U.S. and Russian forces in Syria. Tensions between the two countries are already high following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and American efforts to arm the Ukraine military to defeat Russian forces there. On Wednesday, Russia carried out airstrikes at the...

President Trump issued a symbolic joint statement Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a move that has stirred debate within the Trump administration and spawned concern among some lawmakers on Capitol Hill, according to people familiar with the document. The unusual declaration is intended to commemorate the 75th anniversary of a meeting between American and Soviet troops at the Elbe River on April 25, 1945. The broader intent is to underscore how the two nations can put aside their differences for a larger purpose, according to people familiar with its drafting. “The ‘Spirit of the Elbe’ is an example...

A collection of photographs that Ukraine says shows the presence of Russian forces in the eastern part of the country, and which the United States cited as evidence of Russian involvement, has come under scrutiny. The photographs were submitted by Ukraine last week to the Organization for Security and Cooperation, an organization in Vienna that has been monitoring the situation in Ukraine. Some of the photographs were also provided by American officials to Secretary of State John Kerry so he could show them when he met in Geneva last Thursday with his counterparts from the European Union, Russia, and Ukraine....