Free Republic

Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko called on Wednesday for the country to produce more potatoes in the face of a large shortage of the key crop and rising demand from neighbouring Russia. "We have to grow enough so that it suffices for us and for Russia," Lukashenko said during a meeting with regional officials in Minsk, state news agency BelTA reported. The potato has in the past been seen as a symbol of Lukashenko's rule of the country, which is heavily dependant on agriculture. He was once head of a state-run collective farm, or sovkhoz. Food shortages have arisen recently in...

Putin and Xi say they 'intend' to play a role in US-Iran nuclear negotiations. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for formal talks on Thursday for the first time since President Donald Trump exacerbated the U.S.-China trade war last month. In a statement at the top of the meeting, Xi pledged to stand by his anti-Western ally against "power politics" and "bullying on the international stage." "Eighty years ago, the peoples of China and Russia made tremendous sacrifices to secure a great victory, contributing an indelible chapter to the cause of world peace and human progress,"...