Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday the U.S. will have to send more weapons to Ukraine, just days after ordering a pause in critical weapons deliveries to Kyiv. The comments by Trump appeared to be an abrupt change in posture after the Pentagon announced last week that it would hold back delivering to Ukraine some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons because of what U.S. officials said were concerns that stockpiles have declined too much. “We have to,” Trump said. ”They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now. We’re going...

I spoke with journalists and shared some details of today’s negotiations with the Russians in Istanbul: an unconditional ceasefire, the exchange of prisoners, the return of children, and, importantly, the return, not exchange, of civilians. Then comes a leaders-level meeting. As for a meeting of the leaders, the Russians believe that this can be worked on by the end of this month or early next month. As for the ceasefire, they basically don’t see it happening yet. According to the Russians, they’re ready for a 2–3 day ceasefire just to collect their dead from the battlefield. I think — idiots,...

ATTENTION!So, it appears Zelenskyy gave the go ahead to attack parked Russian nuclear capable bombers without informing @realDonaldTrump (if true that our President was not consulted nor informed, this isn’t simply a breach of protocol. It’s a geopolitical insult and a warning sign. If Ukraine is willing to conduct strikes with strategic consequences without notifying the White House, we are no longer allies with coordination issues—we are co-belligerents flying blind).Also given Senator “warmonger” Lindsey Graham’s and Senator “Da Nang Dick” Blumenthal’s recent visit, this attack could appear as though it was sanctioned. I pray the Russians have better intelligence than...

Americans’ already-negative opinions of Russia have soured further in the past year, dropping ... to 9%.

Moscow on Thursday (Mar 2) claimed that Ukrainians had crossed into southern Russia and killed two civilians, an allegation dismissed by Kyiv as a "deliberate provocation". Russia says its regions bordering Ukraine are routinely shelled by Ukrainian forces, but the alleged incursion, if confirmed, would be a rare instance of fighting inside its territory. Russia's FSB security service said in a statement that the "Ukrainian nationalists" had later been pushed back over the border and targeted with a "massive artillery strike".