Free Republic

Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev has issued a sobering warning to Donald Trump after the US leader accused Vladimir Putin of “playing with fire”. US President Mr Trump, writing on his Truth Social platform, said: “What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!” The remark drew a sharp response from Mr Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and one of Mr Putin’s most outspoken allies. Posting on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “Regarding Trump's...

The reverberations from the Oreshnik ballistic missile strike on Dnipro continue to echo two weeks after the event, mainly because President Putin keeps making public statements about what an effective weapon Oreshnik is. These are duly repeated by the media in Russia and abroad. The use of an intermediate range ballistic missile with conventional warheads was a world first. Containing no explosive, the thirty-six submunitions inflict damage by kinetic energy, “like a meteorite falling,” as Putin put it. The shower of artificial meteorites looked impressive, but the evidence suggests that it did little actual damage. The strike was more of...

Vladimir Putin is facing an economic crisis on multiple fronts as the rouble collapses and inflation soars. The head of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, looks set to compound Moscow's economic misery further as she warns that inflation is continuing to rise. She warned on Wednesday that interest rates may have to be hiked further but added that the decision is “not predetermined.” Ms Nabiullina said: “We have indicated that the Central Bank is open to the possibility of raising the rate, but I want to emphasise that this is not predetermined. "Yes, there is a new pro-inflationary factor,...

The Kremlin said on Monday that any U.S. attempt to compel countries to use the dollar would backfire after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on BRICS countries if they created their own currency. -snip- "More and more countries are switching to the use of national currencies in their trade and foreign economic activities," Peskov told reporters. If Washington resorted to "economic force" to compel countries to use the dollar it would backfire, he predicted. "If the U.S. uses force, as they say economic force, to compel countries to use the dollar it will further strengthen the trend...

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is urging NATO leaders to invite Ukraine to join the Western military alliance during a meeting in Brussels next week, according to a letter sent to alliance leaders—reflecting the country's frenzied push to gain membership in the alliance in the final days of Biden's presidency. The letter, first reviewed by Reuters, comes as Ukraine has re-upped its request for NATO membership to help put an end to Russia's war, including a recent uptick in attacks on its energy infrastructure. It also comes as the Biden administration has granted Ukraine new permissions to fight back against...