WASHINGTON — Nearly three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war has brought no shortage of complicated twists and turns. But one bizarre new element particularly stands out: North Korean troops in the battlefield mix. South Korean intelligence first raised the alarm last month about their presence inside Russia, and since then, mounting evidence…
Russia and Ukraine unleashed a series of intense drone and missile strikes against each other, while North Korea’s foreign minister arrived in Moscow on Wednesday. Choe Son Hui’s visit follows reports of North Korean troops deployed to support Russia, raising concerns within the West. Russia launched 62 drones and one missile across Ukraine on Wednesday,…
It should not come as a big surprise that China and India finally came to their senses and agreed to end their four-year-old border hostilities, at least for now. But the timing of the detente – which occurred during a Russia-hosted event ahead of the US presidential election next week – is rather curious. New…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held a phone conversation with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol amid growing concerns that North Korean troops and generals are being dispatched to Russia to aid Moscow’s war on Ukraine. “There is only one conclusion — this war is being internationalized and goes beyond the borders of two states,” Zelenskiy…
The reported involvement of North Korean troops in Russia’s war against Ukraine would put China in a tight spot and could also lead to closer cooperation between the Nato countries and Northeast Asia, analysts said. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said there was evidence to support the claim that North Korean forces were in Russia,…
South Korea should be wary of intelligence manipulation for political reasons or hasty retaliatory action against the North for its alleged involvement in the Ukraine war, critics warn, with Washington yet to confirm if Pyongyang had deployed troops to join their Russian counterparts. The comments come as Seoul reportedly considered sending a team of intelligence…
Some of Moscow’s key allies rallied round Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday on the first day of a major summit that the Kremlin hopes will show Western attempts to isolate it over the Ukraine offensive have failed. Putin is hosting around 20 world leaders — including China’s President Xi Jinping, India’s Prime Minister Narendra…
Dmitry Medvedev noted that Trump is actually “smooth as silk” during high-level talks. “Trump got carried away. Did he really talk about ‘hitting fricking Moscow?’ Of course not,” he said. “He’s generally smooth as silk in negotiations. And there’s only one answer to such words: your fricking Washington will get hit too.” “In general, our relationship…
One of the energy market’s open questions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been who’s insuring the tankers moving Moscow’s petroleum against the risk of a catastrophic oil spill. The answer is that while some are still covered by the western businesses they’ve always used, owners are increasingly turning to Russian providers backstopped by a…
This year has seen President Vladimir Putin repeatedly brandish the nuclear sword, reminding everyone that Russia has the world’s largest atomic arsenal to try to deter the West from ramping up support for Ukraine. He ordered his military to hold drills involving battlefield nuclear weapons with ally Belarus. He announced Russia will start producing ground-based…