Free Republic

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged allies to impose more sanctions on Moscow should Russia not agree to an unconditional ceasefire at ongoing talks in Istanbul, Turkey. "Our number one priority is a full, unconditional, and honest ceasefire. This must happen immediately to stop the killing and create a solid basis for diplomacy," said Zelensky, addressing fellow leaders at the European Political Community summit in Tirana. If the Russian representatives in Istanbul are not to agree to a ceasefire then "the world must respond," he said. "There needs to be a strong reaction, including sanctions Russia's energy sector and...

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday sacked Russia's chief of land forces, General Oleg Salyukov, the Kremlin said, in the latest removal of a high-profile military establishment figure amid the war in Ukraine. Salyukov, 70, will become a deputy to ex-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who was removed last year and made Secretary of the Security Council. The move was announced in a Kremlin decree. Less than a week ago, Salyukov was running the grand Victory Day military parade in Red Square with current Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Russian law enforcement has charged...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the timeline for a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin probably won’t be set until Trump returns from his overseas trip, APA reports citing CNN. “On the timeline of it, the president will have to determine that,” Rubio said at a news conference Thursday. “We’ll have to figure out how to operationalize that,” Rubio said. “So probably we will wait till he finishes with his trip because the president’s still overseas.” “We’ll wait to see what happens tomorrow, and then those decisions will be made about a timeline and when, where...

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday the only way a breakthrough will happen in the efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine would be through direct talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, after Moscow sent a second-tier team to talks in Turkey. Rubio, who spoke to reporters in Antalya, said he would travel to Istanbul for meetings on Friday with Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and a Ukrainian delegation, but said he did not have high expectations for the talks. "I don't think we're going to have a breakthrough here until the president...

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday spoke to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin by phone and asked him to attend this week's talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, Lula's office said in a statement. Lula "emphasized Brazil's commitment to peace and once again made himself available to collaborate in whatever way necessary in the search for understanding between Russia and Ukraine," the statement said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will not participate in the negotiations set to take place in Istanbul on May 15, APA reports citing Kommersant.ru. This contradicts an earlier report by The Washington Post, which claimed Lavrov would attend the talks alongside President Vladimir Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov. Meanwhile, U.S. President’s Special Representative Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Istanbul on May 16, accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. President Donald Trump recently stated that Putin’s visit to Türkiye would depend on his own travel plans to the country. It should be noted that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed...

President Donald Trump said he may travel to Turkey for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, as he doesn’t believe President Vladimir Putin would show if he isn’t there. "I don’t know if he’s showing up," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I know he would like me to be there. And that's a possibility." -snip- The president noted that he has a "full day" scheduled in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Thursday, and he’d planned on sending Secretary of State and interim national security advisor Marco Rubio. But, he added, "I don't know that [Putin] would be there...

Russia's supply of cheap oil is running out, another major blow for Vladimir Putin as he continues to grapple with a growing economic crisis. Businesses and consumers across the country are reeling under the effects of spiralling inflation and high interest rates. In April, the Central Bank confirmed it would keep the key interest rate at 21% for the foreseeable future, much to the bitter disappointment of the Kremlin and business leaders. Many firms are fighting to stay afloat, as they attempt to pay back bank loans originally secured during more favourable economic times. -snip- Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov...

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he will press Russian President Vladimir Putin to participate in peace negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey later this week. "I'll try to talk to Putin," Lula told a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday before heading for Moscow, Agence France-Presse reported. "It costs me nothing to say, 'Hey, comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate, dammit.' " Russia and Brazil are both members of the BRICS group of emerging-market powers and Lula reportedly attended Moscow's recent Victory Day parade.

United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he is unsure whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate in the proposed Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul, suggesting the leader may decline if Trump himself does not attend. When asked about Putin's possible participation, Trump admitted to reporters on Air Force One that he does not know if the Russian head of state will travel to Istanbul. "I don't know if he's showing up [at peace negotiations]. I know he would like me to be there ... and that's a possibility," Trump replied. "I don't know that he would be there...

It was Christmas 2011, a year after Roman Abramovich had taken delivery of his new superyacht, Eclipse. But it seemed the oligarch would not be using it over the festive period - records show it had been chartered by a company based in the British Virgin Islands. And yet photographs from Christmas Day that year show Mr Abramovich in the Caribbean sunshine, standing on the swim platform at the rear of the yacht, with Eclipse's large letter-E logo behind him. Charter records such as this were part of a decade-long scheme to mislead tax authorities, now uncovered in an investigation...

Important events are developing on the international political scene - according to Keith Kellogg, the US special representative for Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin may personally participate in the Russia-Ukraine talks scheduled for May 15 in Istanbul. If this happens, it is possible that US President Donald Trump will also attend the meeting. Kellogg explained this proposal as follows: "We hope that President Putin will also go to the talks. If so, then President Trump may also come to Istanbul. This will be a completely unexpected, historic meeting," he told reporters. Hope and pressure from Trump's visit According to a...

Vladimir Putin will not show up for peace talks because his 25-year stranglehold on Russia ends if he yields, experts say. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has agreed to an offer of direct talks aimed at achieving peace, but Moscow said it would refuse to honour a ceasefire before and during any meeting. The showdown was tentatively set for Istanbul with US President Donald Trump saying he would show up, but the meeting has yet to be confirmed. The apparent foot-dragging by the Kremlin was seen as a deliberate ploy to continue a bloody war with its neighbour that has rumbled...

Putin could reject his own offer to Zelensky. UKRAINE is now piling the pressure on Russia as Vladimir Putin stays silent on his own offer to meet for peace talks on Thursday. Moscow's bungle has seen Volodymyr Zelenksy take up Vlad's offer to for a face-to-face meet in Istanbul for long-awaited negotiations between the two leaders. But the Kremlin has gone deathly silent as Putin weighs rejecting the offer he sent to the Ukrainians. Zelensky has filled the dead air and now said he will definitely go to Istanbul - but will only meet with his counterpart Putin and not...

I picked a J6 case at random to review because I wanted to see how bad it was. And let me tell you the random one I picked did not disappoint. This defendant went into the capital and walked down the corridor. He was not accused of violence. He did not break anything. He did not hurt anybody. He was sentenced by a jury to 19 months in prison he was overcharged by the prosecutor to the point where it should be called malicious prosecution, and a judge rubber stamped every single thing the prosecutor asked for. The most egregious...

On Thursday, CIA Chief William Burns gave his first public speech as director at the Georgia Institute of Technology addressing the dual threat of China and Russia. Burns said Chinese President Xi Jinping is “a silent partner” in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “aggression” in Ukraine, warning that China poses the “greatest challenge” and “most profound test” that the agency has ever faced. KX News has covered the State Investment Board’s efforts to entirely divest from Russia, but what about Russia’s “silent partner,” China? The SIB has 69 investments in China that span a wide range of industries throughout the country....

Trump ‘thinking about’ joining Ukraine peace talks in Turkey Donald Trump said he could join Russia and Ukraine for talks on ending the war in Turkey on Thursday. The US president said on Monday that he was “thinking” of flying to Istanbul for negotiations after visits to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. “I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday. I’ve got so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen, but we’ve...

Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed he will personally attend landmark peace talks on Thursday with Russia in a direct ultimatum to Vladimir Putin. Writing on social media on Sunday afternoon, Ukraine's President said he "will be waiting" in Istanbul for his Russian counterpart to sit down and negotiate.

Vladimir Putin’s top security official has vanished during efforts to end the war in Ukraine, amid swirling health rumours and claims he could be caught up in a corruption probe. Sergei Shoigu, 69, is a Russian army general and currently the secretary of the powerful Russian Security Council. He served as defence minister for most of the war in Ukraine before being replaced one year ago, and is a very well-known member of Putin's entourage. Speculation is swirling in Moscow after he missed the Red Square parade on Friday amid claims his absence was health-related. But an explanation that he...

Iran is preparing to deliver in the near future launchers for short-range ballistic missiles that the U.S. said Tehran sent to Russia last year for use against Ukraine, according to two Western security officials and a regional official. The delivery of the Fath-360 launchers - if it occurs - would help support Russia's grinding assault on its neighbor and reaffirm the deepening security ties between Moscow and Tehran. With a 75-mile (120-km) range, the Fath-360 would give Moscow's forces a new weapon to fire at Ukrainian frontline troops, nearby military targets, and population centers close to the border with Russia,...