Free Republic

Despite the time and political capital spent on the $60 billion aid for Ukraine, some Biden administration officials are skeptical it’s enough for Ukraine to win its two-year war with Russia. Battlefield dynamics have shifted a lot in the last few months, partly because Ukraine ran low on weaponry and ammunition while Congress debated authorizing more aid, according to three U.S. officials, all granted anonymity to detail sensitive internal thinking. During that period, Ukraine struggled to maintain eastern territory, though Russia didn’t make significant gains, either. Russia maintains a manpower and weapons advantage, and it would take a lot to...

Democrat President Joe Biden has caved and will visit Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to beg the kingdom to pump more oil. The move comes after the president has shut down domestic output, leading, in part, to soaring gas prices. As gas prices skyrocket to record highs across the country, Biden may view the trip as a chance to save his presidency. However, it could still backfire if Biden can’t get the Saudis to dramatically increase production Biden may have to go with his tail between his legs when he meets Prince Salman as, during his campaign,...

Russia’s capture of the strategic city of Lysychansk means the front line in Ukraine’s east will shift as Russian forces regroup before pushing further south and west, military analysts and Ukrainian officers said Sunday, ensuring that the next phase of the battle will be just as bloody as the last. To take Lysychansk and its neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk, Russian forces moved in from the north, east and west and created a pocket of territory that became indefensible toward the end of June. Now those Russian forces are in a position to attempt a similar maneuver on other Ukrainian-held cities...

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced another $1 billion in military aid for Ukraine on Wednesday, following the third meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a group of about 50 nations supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia. “I’m especially pleased to be able to announce today that the United States will provide an additional $1 billion security assistance package for Ukraine,” Austin said at a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, where the members of the group met.

President Biden on Friday declined to rule out Ukraine having to cede part of its territory to Russia in order to end Moscow’s more than three-month-old invasion.“Does Ukraine have to cede territory to achieve peace?” a reporter asked Biden after his remarks on the May jobs report.“But it appears to me that at some point along the line, there’s going to have to be a negotiated settlement

The United States will not send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach into Russia, President Joe Biden said on Monday, as Ukraine pushes for longer-range weapons system to help in its fight. Ukrainian officials have been asking allies for longer-range systems including the Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS, that can fire a barrage of rockets hundreds of miles away. "We're not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that strike into Russia," Biden told reporters after arriving back at the White House after a weekend in Delaware.

Who benefits most from Joe Biden’s obsessive pursuit of a renewed JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran? Tehran’s mullahs, obviously, as well as the IRGC when Biden orders them removed from the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations. But coming in a close second will be Vladimir Putin and the Russian oligarchs that support him, as Adam Kredo outlines at the Washington Free Beacon this morning:Several of Russia’s top state-controlled nuclear companies stand to gain billions of dollars in revenue as part of a new nuclear accord with Iran that will waive sanctions on these firms so that they can build...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is on course to run a budget surplus this year, analysts say, a turnaround after strong half-year data, with high oil prices giving room to cover spending promises from President Vladimir Putin ahead of parliamentary elections. Last month, Putin promised to spend on infrastructure, education and health, seeking to give the ruling United Russia party a boost. The pledges added to social support measures announced in April that will cost the budget around 400 billion roubles ($5.40 billion) over two years. Russia had a budget surplus of 626 billion roubles from January to June, the finance...