Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un shake hands at the Vostochny cosmodrome in eastern Russia

The meeting between the North Korean and Russian leaders could lead, according to Washington, to an arms sale agreement to support the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

Published


Reading time :
1 minute

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on September 13, 2023 at the Vostochny Cosmodrome (Russia).  (VLADIMIR SMIRNOV / AFP)

End of a long train journey. Kim Jong-un has arrived at the Vostochny cosmodrome station, in eastern Russia, Wednesday September 13. In video released by the Kremlin on Telegram, we see Vladimir Putin shaking hands with his North Korean counterpart. Washington fears that Moscow is sourcing weapons from North Korea for its military operations in Ukraine. Follow our live stream.

• Two concrete shelters to “protect the population”. The Romanian army announces that it has started the construction of air raid shelters in its border region with Ukraine. Drone debris was discovered last week in this part of Romanian territory. On the other bank of the Danube, Russian attacks are increasing against ports and infrastructure. Romania is one of the member countries of NATO, these latest attacks are judged “destabilizing” by the alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.

• A Ukrainian attack causes a fire at a shipyard in Sevastopol, Crimea. According to the governor of this territory annexed in 2014 by Russia, this fire resulted from a “missile attack” led by kyiv against Sevastopol, the home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in annexed Crimea. “As a result of the attack, according to initial information, a total of 24 people were injured”specified Mikhail Razvojaïev on Telegram.

The European Union allows member states to finance their arms purchases. Rgathered in plenary session in Strasbourg, the elected representatives of the European Parliament voted, Tuesday September 12, the text of a regulation, with a budget of 300 million euros, which will allow Member States to receive financing for purchases sharing weapons or ammunition. This new regulation should make it possible to strengthen the European defense industry by 2025, to enable it to better respond to needs, exacerbated since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.


source site-25