Top Russian diplomat is in North Korea. What does this mean?
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Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
North Korea's Kim offers Russia full support on Ukraine in Lavrov talks
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered Moscow his full support for their war in Ukraine during talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Pyongyang state media said Sunday. Lavrov's visit to North Korea was the latest in a series of high-profile trips by top Moscow officials as both countries deepen military and political ties amid Russia's offensive against Kyiv. Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Russia's Kursk region to oust Ukrainian forces and has also provided the Russian army with artillery shells and missiles. Kim and Lavrov met on Saturday in "an atmosphere full of warm comradely trust", North Korea's official KCNA news agency reported. Russia's foreign ministry posted a video on Telegram of the two men shaking hands and greeting each other with a hug. It said the talks were held in Wonsan, a city on North Korea's east coast where a massive resort was opened earlier this month -- one of leader Kim's pet projects. Kim told Lavrov that Pyongyang was "ready to unconditionally support and encourage all the measures taken by the Russian leadership as regards the tackling of the root cause of the Ukrainian crisis", KCNA said. The North Korean leader also expressed a "firm belief that the Russian army and people would surely win victory in accomplishing the sacred cause of defending the dignity and basic interests of the country". He lauded Putin's "outstanding leadership", the report said. The two men otherwise discussed "important matters for faithfully implementing the agreements made at the historic DPRK-Russia summit talks in June 2024", KCNA said, referring to North Korea by its official name. Lavrov told Kim that Putin "hopes for continued direct contacts in the very near future", according to the Russian state-owned news agency TASS. He left Pyongyang and landed in Beijing on Sunday to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Foreign Ministers' Council, Russia's TASS news agency reported on its Telegram account. -Invincible alliance- Ahead of Lavrov's recent visit, Russia announced that it would begin twice-a-week flights between Moscow and Pyongyang. Lavrov lauded Wonsan as "a good tourist attraction", adding: "We hope it will be popular not only with local citizens, but also with Russians." KCNA also issued a statement on Sunday on the meeting between Lavrov and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui, held a day earlier in the coastal city, saying that bilateral ties were becoming an "invincible alliance". Moscow "expressed its firm support for the DPRK side in its just efforts for defending the security of the state" during the meeting, KCNA said. In return, Choe demonstrated "full sympathy and support for all the measures taken by the Russian government to remove the root cause of the Ukrainian conflict". TASS earlier reported that Lavrov thanked the "heroic" North Korean soldiers who have been deployed to aid Russia during the ministerial meeting. Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said. North Korea only confirmed it had deployed troops to support Russia's war in April, and admitted its soldiers had been killed in combat. Both sides "emphasised their determination to jointly counter the hegemonic aspirations of extra-regional players, which are leading to escalating tensions in Northeast Asia and throughout the Asia-Pacific region", Russia's foreign ministry said. The two heavily sanctioned nations signed a military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang. kjk/ceb/dhc
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Iran state media denies reports Russia accepts zero enrichment deal
"Putin would support zero enrichment. He encouraged the Iranians to work towards that in order to make negotiations with the Americans more favorable," a European source told Axios. Iran's Tasnim news, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has denied a Saturday report that Russia has accepted a proposal under which Iran would not enrich uranium. The denial comes as Iran's foreign ministry has also said that trust in the US has dropped 'below zero.' According to a report in Axios on July 12 'Russian President Vladimir Putin has told both US President Donald Trump and Iranian officials that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, sources familiar with those discussions tell Axios.' The report noted that 'Russia has been Iran's main diplomatic backer on the nuclear issue for years. But while Moscow publicly advocates for Iran's right to enrich, Putin has taken a tougher position in private in the wake of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran.' However, two hours after the Axios report, Tasnim news headlined its website with a denial. It said an 'informed source' had said the claims about Putin's messaging about 'zero enrichment is false.' The Iranian media said that 'Zionist media' had spread this claim about Putin's message to Iran regarding accepting zero enrichment. "Tehran has not received such a message from Putin in any way." Tasnim went on to say 'Putin's lastmeeting with Iranian officials was with [Iranian Foreign Minister] Araghchi, and such an issue was not raised in that meeting. After that, no messages about zero enrichment were exchanged through communication channels between Russia and Tehran." Clearly Iran's state media and the IRGC are concerned about these reports. They don't want to feel that Russia is weakening Iran's position. Iran has appeared to flip-flop on whether it will rekindle talks with the US. Iran and the US were in talks when Israel began airstrikes on Iran on June 12. Twelve days later, US President Donald Trump secured a ceasefire after joining the strikes. Then Trump hosted Israel's Prime Minister in Washington. Recent reports have suggested Israel could carry out strikes again if Iran continues its move towards a nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry has slammed the US. 'According to the Foreign Policy Group of the Tasnim News Agency, Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that the illegal attack against the Islamic Republic of Iran in the middle of the diplomatic process was scandalous and that the enemy could not resist the logic of dialogue and engagement, saying: 'Today, it is clear to everyone that the Islamic Republic is a proponent of dialogue and diplomacy,'' Tasnim reported on July 12. The reports have been receiving a spotlight in the region. Al-Arabiya also reported on the Iranian denials. The report noted that Russia is willing to aid in bringing the US and Iran together in some kind of a discussion, but Lavrov cautioned this was not about mediation. The White House has been increasingly critical of Russia in the last week. Russia's Foreign Minister, according to Al-Arabiya, has also said that Russia possesses the technological capabilities to deplete uranium and is prepared to offer its services to Iran. "President Putin noted that when agreeing on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program, Russia's capabilities to provide services related to the depletion of uranium accumulated in Iran prior to the adoption of this document were taken into account, with the depletion of uranium to the level necessary for energy purposes, for use in nuclear power plants,' Lavrov said. Lavrov added, "Since Iran has not made any commitment to limit its enrichment in the years following the unilateral US withdrawal from the JCPOA, and this is now being discussed, we have indicated that we possess such technological capabilities and are ready to provide them, transferring excess highly enriched uranium to Russia for processing, and returning the energy-enriched uranium to Iran for nuclear power plant.'
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump to make major Russia address Monday
Friday, President Donald Trump dialed into NBC to say he's cooking up a major statement on Russia for Monday. He didn't hold back on Putin's recent missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and said he's ready to unleash Senator Lindsey Graham's tough new sanctions bill whenever he sees fit. He also let slip a neat little trick: the U.S. will send weapons to NATO, NATO will pick up the tab, and then funnel those arms straight to Ukraine. It keeps Washington from footing the entire bill directly but still gets critical gearair-defense systems, artillery shells and the likeinto Ukrainian hands faster. All of this comes on the heels of Marco Rubio sitting down with Russia's Sergei Lavrov at the ASEAN summit. With tensions rising on the ground, Monday's announcement could reshape how the U.S. and its allies back Kyiv going forward. That's likely to be a jolt or potentially positive move for the stock market, that's been mostly choppy this year. However, of late, the investor enthusiam has recovered, with S&P 500 racking up record highs. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
