North Korean soldiers have actively joined fighting alongside Russian forces, according to the US State Department. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian politician says he isn’t concerned about the relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Tuesday 12 November 2024 22:20, UK
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Moldova has handed Russia’s ambassador to the country a protest note over alleged interference in the presidential election and a referendum on joining the EU.
The Moldovan foreign ministry said in a statement that
Russia had sought to delegitimise the election process and the October referendum.
“The ministry of foreign affairs presented today to the [Russian] ambassador… a note of protest in connection with the illegal and deliberate interference of the Russian Federation in the electoral process of the Republic of Moldova,” it said.
Russian ambassador Oleg Ozerov said: “The conversation made it possible to clarify issues related to our acute and complex bilateral relations.”
The head of NATO has called on allies to ensure they back Ukraine “for the long haul”.
Speaking as he held talks with France’s Emmanuel Macron, Mark Rutte highlighted the “importance of keeping up the support as Ukrainians prepare to face what could be their harshest winter since 2022”.
“We must recommit to stay in the course for the long haul and we must do more than just keep Ukraine in the fight.
“We need to raise the cost for Putin and his enabling authoritarian friends, by providing Ukraine with the support it needs to change the trajectory of the conflict.”
Ukraine is targeting Russia’s “shadow” oil tanker fleet with fresh sanctions, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Today I held a detailed meeting on sanctions and increasing pressure on Russia, specifically targeting the shadow tanker fleet,” he said in his nightly address.
“We have a series of measures in place and will be intensifying our work with partners. I also signed several decrees, including one that imposes sanctions on Russian companies and individuals who work in the interests of the aggressor state and help it evade accountability for the war.”
The so-called “shadow fleet” is a series of tankers that Russia uses to transport goods that are banned under Western sanctions.
The UK sanctioned 10 ships in September that were “used by Russia as a desperate attempt to undermine UK and G7 sanctions and continue unfettered trade in Russian oil”.
Ukraine has claimed responsibility for starting a large fire after striking an oil depot on Russian soil.
The Russian governor of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, reported a drone attack on the depot in the Starooskolsky district in the early hours of the morning.
“As a result of the explosion, one of the [fuel] tanks caught fire,” Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Ten fire crews worked until they extinguished the fire, he said.
Now, the Ukrainian armed forces said members of its special forces, unmanned division and others carried out the attack
North Korean soldiers have actively joined fighting alongside Russian forces, according to the US State Department.
“Over 10,000 DPRK (North Korean) soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to the far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces,” state department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.
It’s the first time the US has said that North Korean troops are actively engaged in fighting against Ukraine.
Reports suggest that Vladimir Putin is trying to recover the Kursk region from Ukraine before Donald Trump’s inauguration in January – effectively removing it from any potential negotiating table.
Ukrainian troops launched an invasion of the area earlier this year and have successfully held parts of the Russian territory.
US and European news outlets suggested that as many 50,000 Russian and North Korean troops had massed on the border of the region in the last few days.
It is clear what Russia stands to gain from an influx of some 10,000 North Korean troops to aid its war in Ukraine.
Less apparent is what might be in it for Kim Jong Un.
“North Korea might be getting combat experience with drones and some real combat experience in a 21st century war,” Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, told our partner network NBC News.
“But that is secondary to the strategic capabilities that they might obtain from Russia – and I think that the concern on the South Korean side is exactly driven by this.”
Western and South Korean officials have suggested previously that North Korea was being paid through various means, including resources, food and in some cases hard cash. But relations between the two countries have visibly deepened as the war in Ukraine has raged on.
A visit by Kim to Russia’s Vostochny spaceport last summer, which set the stage for the supply of North Korean munitions, was met with speculation that Mr Putin was trading away valuable Russian knowledge in the sphere of space technologies, which have vast overlaps with those used in a successful nuclear program.
“I think that question whether or not that is actually happening is the key,” Mr Gabuev said.
“North Korea is trying to get as many benefits as it can from this relationship,” said Edward Howell, an expert on North Korea at the Chatham House think tank.
“And it now has full, unwavering support of Russia at the UN Security Council, which is extremely beneficial for North Korea, because it knows that it can test missiles, it can provoke South Korea.
“It can even conduct a nuclear test and get away with it, because sanctions are just not going to be issued because of Russia’s veto power,” he said.
It also offers North Korea a testing ground for its troops.
“If thousands of North Korean troops learn how to survive on a battlefield full of drones,” Mr Gabuev said, “that is a lesser problem than North Korea having quieter nuclear-capable submarines.”
Donald Trump has announced his choice for one of the most consequential offices in his administration when it comes to foreign policy – which could have massive ramifications for Ukraine.
Mike Waltz, the representative for Florida, will be Trump’s national security adviser.
Earlier, our US correspondent Mark Stone described Waltz as a “MAGA loyalist”, but also an “Atlanticist, traditional interventionist, Russia-hawk and hardliner on China”.
Read more of what Stone had to say in our 17.17 post.
Russia’s defence ministry claims that 13 Ukrainian drones have been downed over border regions in the past few hours.
Two were shot down over Bryansk, while 11 were destroyed over Belgorod, according to the ministry.
Border regions in both Russia and Ukraine have come under frequent drone attacks from the opposite side in recent months.
Ukraine has not responded to the claims by the Russian MoD.
Moldovan police have reported a third drone to have landed on its soil in as many days.
“Police officers from Criuleni were alerted about the detection of a drone in the outskirts of the locality of Cosernita,” police said.
Two more drones were found in different parts of the country on Sunday.
Those two were found in the northern village of Borosenii Noi and the southern village of Firladeni, local police said, after a Russian drone attack on neighbouring Ukraine.
They could have been decoy drones – deployed by Russia to use up valuable Ukrainian air defence munitions.
At the time, the foreign ministry said Chisinau strongly condemned their landing on Moldova’s territory.
By Mark Stone, US correspondent
Donald Trump’s picks for key White House positions are beginning to take shape.
In the foreign policy realm, there are two very interesting picks which will probably calm nerves among Washington’s allies overseas who worry about an insular, inward looking America.
Florida senator Marco Rubio is tipped to be secretary of state – America’s chief diplomat – and Mike Waltz is the apparent choice for National Security Advisor.
Both these men are now MAGA loyalists, but are also Atlanticists, traditional interventionists, Russia-hawks and hardliners on China.
Their appointments, if confirmed, are likely to counter suggestions that Trump 2.0 would see America disengaging with global events.
Rubio’s extensive foreign policy experience comes from his time on both the Foreign Relations Committee and the Intelligence Committee in the Senate.
It remains to be seen to what extent his alignment with the MAGA movement has shifted or adapted his foreign policy positions.
Rubio is close to Trump’s White House chief of staff pick, Susie Wiles, who is seen to be a key Trump-whisperer and a disciplining voice within his orbit.
On Ukraine, he has called for “a negotiated settlement” – articulating publicly what many believe to be the only viable course of action.
On the much vaunted special relationship with the UK, Rubio has been effusive in his praise for Britain in the past.
Downing Street will be happy to re-listen to this key foreign policy speech he gave in London in 2013…
Of course – plenty has changed in a decade, but Rubio’s appointment, if confirmed, would be about as good as the UK and the EU could wish for in the second Trump administration.
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