Free Republic

(CNSNews.com) – The Kremlin has reiterated that it regards the further expansion of NATO into former Soviet countries as a “life and death” matter, but Moscow is also making clear that it objects to Sweden and Finland, nations that were not part of the USSR, joining the alliance. Ahead of talks with the West next month, which Russia hopes will result in a halt to additional NATO enlargement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russia 1 television network on Sunday that the prospect of Ukraine, Georgia, or Moldova being admitted into NATO was a question of “life and death for...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the West for increasing tensions in Eastern Europe and suggested a “military-technical” response if his request for security guarantees is not met — while a media mouthpiece for the Kremlin warned that Russia will hold a gun to “America’s head” if Ukraine is allowed to join NATO. In a speech Tuesday to Russian defense ministry officials, Putin said Moscow needs “long-term, legally binding guarantees” from the West that the US and NATO will not deploy missile systems in Ukraine, rather than “verbal assurances.” Russia has massed as many as 175,000 troops as well as...

Donald Trump’s runaway success in the GOP primaries so far is setting off alarm bells among neoconservatives who are worried he will not pursue the same bellicose foreign policy that has dominated Republican thinking for decades. Neoconservative historian Robert Kagan — one of the prime intellectual backers of the Iraq War and an advocate for Syrian intervention — announced in the Washington Post last week that if Trump secures the nomination, “the only choice will be to vote for Hillary Clinton.” Max Boot, an unrepentant supporter of the Iraq War, wrote in the Weekly Standard that a “Trump presidency would...

We've all heard him say it at least once. Ted Cruz calls the Council on Foreign Relations a "Pernicious Nest of Snakes". He has excused his wife Heidi from her FIVE YEARS of serving on the Council on Foreign Relations as a Junior stint, joining after the Bush years to only try to put a conservative viewpoint into that pernicious nest! Well, Ted, why didn't she quit when she realized her assigned project wasn't going to be a conservative constitution based one? Why did she stay and help to create the manual to destroy America's structure from within to achieve...

urkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday condemned an attack on the rebel-held Syrian city of Idlib, believed to have been carried out by Russian jets, and said Syria will not be part of "Russian imperialist goals". Relations between Ankara and Moscow are already at their worst in recent memory after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane over Syria last month. This weekend's air strikes killed scores of people in the center of Idlib in northwest Syria on Sunday, rescue workers and residents said. Turkey, which has long called for the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and supports the...

In a twist on the typically shadowy world of super PACS, a new anti-Donald Trump group is openly seeking donations for an ad that would flog the New York businessman for drawing and accepting praise from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Make America Awesome is also offering to pay commissions to people who bring in big donors. The size of the commissions is not disclosed in the appeal circulated early Friday by Republican operative Liz Mair, and she did not immediately respond to a request for details.

Republican US presidential front-runner Donald Trump is apparently "honored" that Russian President Vladimir Putin considers the real-estate magnate a "flamboyant" and "very talented" man. "It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond," Trump said in a statement, according to Politico. He continued: "I have always felt that Russia and the United States should be able to work well with each other towards defeating terrorism and restoring world peace, not to mention trade and all of the other benefits derived from mutual respect." (full article at...

The main point is, however, that Russia's 'conservative turn' since Putin's return to the Kremlin in March 2012 — widely deplored in the West as a creeping authoritarianism with roots only in the wiles of Putin's mind — may be closer to the world view of Russia's conservative and patriotic majority than most Western governments would care to admit. In foreign and economic policy, Russia's post-Soviet government may never have cleaved as close to the views of the majority as it does now. That's the view of Igor Okunev, a vice-dean at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, whom...

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia's defence ministry on Saturday accused the United States of turning a blind eye to the trafficking of oil into Turkey from Syrian areas under Islamic State control, after Washington called the amounts involved insignificant. "When US officials say they don't see how the terrorists' oil is smuggled to Turkey... it smells badly of a desire to cover up these acts," the ministry said on its Facebook page. "The declarations of the Pentagon and the State Department seem like a theatre of the absurd," the statement added, suggesting that Washington "watch the videos taken by its (own)...

Haider Al-Abadi: "The unauthorized presence of Turkish troops in Mosul province is a serious breach of Iraqi sovereignty"

Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian jet fighter is a “critical moment” for the U.S. and its allies to stand up to Moscow, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Tuesday. Hours after the Kremlin condemned Turkey’s decision to shoot down the warplane for entering its airspace, Rubio warned against letting Russia get the upper hand. “It's important for us to be very clear that we will respond and defend Turkey if they come under assault from the Russians. Otherwise the entire NATO alliance comes into question,” Rubio, who is running for president, said on Fox News.

Turkish F-16 fighter jets shot down a war plane of unknown origin on Tuesday after it violated Turkish air space close to the Syrian border and ignored warnings, a Turkish military official told Reuters.

Russian airstrikes have torched more than 1,000 tankers taking stolen crude oil to Islamic State refineries. This blow against the jihadists comes as the Russian Air Force has hit 472 terrorist targets in two days in Syria, making 141 sorties. All Russian aircraft have successfully returned to the Khmeimim airbase near Latakia, Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said in a daily briefing.

Putin 'forced Obama's hand' on ISIS: Russia hailed for making Jihadi John death 'possible' BRITISH butcher Jihadi John could not have been targeted WITHOUT Russia strongman Vladimir Putin stepping in and ramping up the pressure against Islamic State (ISIS), according to political commentators around the world. By Rebecca Perring PUBLISHED: 13:03, Fri, Nov 13, 2015 | UPDATED: 14:57, Fri, Nov 13, 2015 Putin has been hailed a "hero" after the British ISIS militant Mohammed Emwzi, AKA Jihadi John, was reportedly killed in a US drone strike alongside three other most wanted fighters. Although American military are responsible for the savage...

An American researcher says it is highly likely that the United States is responsible for the crash of a Russian passenger plane over Egypt this week. On Saturday, the Airbus A321-200 broke up in midair and crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing 224 people on board. An investigation is underway to find out how the disaster happened; however, the airline has said that technical faults or human errors could not have caused the tragic crash. "New information from sources with contacts in the CIA are reporting that the US recently sold ships to Egypt in return for a drone base...

Russia says Syria 'opposition' guided warplanes to bombing targets AFP 22 hours ago Moscow (AFP) - Russian jets bombed 24 targets in Syria Tuesday using coordinates supplied by "opposition representatives" -- the first time Moscow has claimed to work with opposition groups since the start of its air offensive. "The coordinates of all of these targets were given to us by opposition representatives," senior military official Andrei Kartapolov said, without specifying which groups Moscow had cooperated with. Kartapolov said Moscow's jets hit targets close to Palmyra, Deir Ezzor, Ithriya and eastern Aleppo with assistance from the opposition, destroying "terrorist" command...

One point we’ve been particularly keen on driving home since the beginning of Russian airstrikes in Syria is that The Kremlin’s move to step in on behalf of Bashar al-Assad along with Vladimir Putin’s open “invitation” to Washington with regard to joining forces in the fight against terrorism effectively let the cat out of the proverbial bag. That is, it simply wasn’t possible for the US to explain why the Pentagon refused to partner with the Russians without admitting that i) the government views Assad, Russia, and Iran as a greater threat than ISIS, and ii) Washington and its regional...

Russian warplanes are conducting dozens of sorties in Syria to target terrorist forces in the country. The airstrikes are being conducted day and night, keeping militants under constant pressure. The aircraft launch their combat missions from an airbase south of Latakia. The jet flames pierce the Arabian night’s sky as Su-24M bombers prepare for take-off. Meticulous reconnaissance and advanced instruments make sure the airstrikes undertaken at night are as precise as those in day. Advanced Su-34s find it just as easy to drop their devastating cargo into the dark night’s sky. The jihadists have to sleep with one eye open...

Once it became clear that Moscow and Tehran had jointly planned the incursion in Syria with Russia promising full air support and Iran pledging ground troops from Hezbollah, its various Shiite militias, and the IRGC, we immediately suggested that Iraq was next on the agenda after the Assad regime is restored. For those unfamiliar with the situation on the ground, we encourage you to read “Who Really Controls Iraq? Inside Iran's Powerful Proxy Armies,” in which we outline the extent to which Tehran effectively controls both the Iraqi military and the politicians in Baghdad.The US allows this because i) there’s...

The leader of an al Qaeda-linked group allegedly bent on attacking the West has been killed in an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition in Syria, U.S. officials said Sunday. Sanafi al-Nasr, a Saudi citizen whose real name is Abdul Mohsen Adballah Ibrahim al Charekh, was the highest-ranking member of the Khorasan Group -- a collection of veteran al Qaeda jihadis which had moved into Syria, the Pentagon said in a statement. He was killed in an airstrike in northwest Syria on Thursday, the statement said. Nasr, who was once al Qaeda's chief financial officer and had been designated a Specially...