Free Republic

The US won’t repeat the mistakes of the Iraq War by failing to secure valuable resources from Ukraine in exchange for help ending Russia’s nearly three-year-old invasion, President Trump’s special envoy to the conflict exclusively told The Post. “When you look at the mineral deposits in that country, we’re not talking millions of dollars. We’re talking — virtually every region, we’re talking about billions, and then some regions are [worth] trillions,” retired Gen. Keith Kellogg said this week. “You can come up with a deal, and that’s what [Trump] has the Treasury looking at: ‘OK, how do you make a...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pored over a once-classified map of vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals during an interview with Reuters on Friday, part of a push to appeal to Donald Trump's penchant for a deal. -snip- "We need to stop Putin and protect what we have - a very rich Dnipro region, central Ukraine," he said. -snip- "The Americans helped the most, and therefore the Americans should earn the most. And they should have this priority, and they will. I would also like to talk about this with President Trump." -snip- In addition, Zelenskiy said Kyiv...

A Russian singer accused of donating to the Ukraine army and calling President Vladimir Putin an “idiot” fell to his death from a window this week — just moments after authorities raided his apartment. Vadim Stroykin, 58, plunged to his death from the 10th floor of his St. Petersburg apartment building on Wednesday after cops came to interrogate him about the alleged donations and other claims of extremism, local news outlet Fontanka reported. Authorities said the British-educated musician and radio host was last seen alive when he went to his kitchen to get water during the police search, according to...

Russia has got so desperate it has had to go back to one of the most old-fashioned ways to carry bullets and guns during a war. The Soviet army had to start using donkeys and horses to carry ammunition in Ukraine – something that hasn’t been done for over a century. Military blogger Kirill Fedorov wrote on his Telegram channel that Putin and his soldiers have started to send the animals to the front line. He said that an official government transport list says these animals include horses, camels and deer. He wrote: ‘The fighters were given a donkey to...

Ukraine, keen for continued U.S. support in its war with Russia, is looking forward to a visit this month by U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for the region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff said on Friday. Andriy Yermak said he had spoken to envoy Keith Kellogg about topics including the battlefield situation, the safety of Ukrainian civilians, and meetings at the annual Munich Security Conference later this month. "The Ukrainian side is looking forward to the visit of the U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, in February to provide comprehensive information on Russian aggression against...

President Trump is prepared to double down on US sanctions for Russia to bring about an end to its war on Ukraine, retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, his special envoy to the conflict, exclusively told The Post this week — but he knows both Kyiv and Moscow will have to make concessions to end the “industrial-sized” killing in Europe’s largest country. Sanctions enforcement on Russia are “only about a three” on a scale of one to 10 on how painful the economic pressure can be, Kellogg said. The US sanctions themselves — such as those targeting Russia’s lucrative energy sector —...

Tucker Carlson has been mocked over a fawning video praising Moscow's 'cheap and fresh' groceries - while overlooking the much lower wages in Russia. The former Fox News firebrand wheeled a grocery cart around a Russian superstore while marveling at the stock as he continued his Putin PR tour. -snip/ The video drew widespread ridicule from people online, as many pointed out the disparity between the average wage in Russia - which is the equivalent of $9072 - or 6.5 times less than the average US salary of $59,428. Many joked he was working for free as a one-man 'tourism...