Free Republic

Russia is closely monitoring Donald Trump’s territorial claims to Greenland, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said, after the US president-elect refused to rule out the possibility of using military force to acquire the Danish territory. “We are following this rather dramatic development closely. Thankfully, for now, it remains at the level of statements,” Peskov told a news conference in Moscow on Thursday. -snip- “The Arctic zone is an area of our national and strategic interests. We are present in the Arctic and will continue to be. Maintaining peace and stability in the region is paramount, and we are open to...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his generals have an artful knack for keeping the Russian military bear off-balance. On Sunday, they renewed their offensive in the Russian Kursk Oblast, once again catching the Russian high command, Kremlin, and many pundits by surprise. Reports of a demoralized Ukrainian army fighting to retain terrain captured during the August Kursk offensive — of which at least 40 percent has been lost — have circulated among western media and Russian milbloggers since November. So too reports that Ukraine’s 155th Mechanized Brigade — trained and equipped by France — was under-resourced in “first person view...

In Ukraine, a commander has been arrested on suspicion of desertion. The special investigation service writes that he also urged his subordinates to run away. The man was leader of the brigade trained in France from which many hundreds of soldiers reportedly fled or did not show up at all. The commander led a company, which usually consists of 100 to 150 soldiers. As far as is known, he is the highest-ranking soldier in the brigade, with several thousand soldiers, who has been arrested so far in the scandal. Earlier, the supreme commander of the brigade was suspended. "Fled without...

Donald Trump can’t see the “bigger picture” on Ukraine and Europe could step up to take over funding the fight against Europe, a top Eurocrat says, as Zelensky calls for Western troops to “force Russia into peace”. Ukraine’s Western backers are meeting in Germany at the major U.S.-NATO Ramstein airbase on Thursday through the Ukraine Defence Contract Group, President Volodymyr Zelensky having arrived at the base this morning. Per Ukrainian state media, he is due to have group meetings through the forum as well as individual talks with other leaders during the summit. Meetings had barely begun, however, when President...