BEIJING, Sept 18, 2023 (AFP) – China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will begin a four-day visit to Russia for security talks on Monday, his foreign ministry said, the latest in a series of high-level visits and phone calls between the two sides. China and Russia are strategic allies, with both countries frequently touting their “no limits” partnership and economic and military cooperation. Their ties became even closer after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, […]
Tag: Russia
North Korea’s leader wraps up Russia trip with drones gift
MOSCOW, Sept 17, 2023 (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un left Russia on Sunday after a rare six-day visit that appeared to solidify his country’s ties with President Vladimir Putin, fanning Western fears that Pyongyang could provide Moscow with weapons for its assault on Ukraine. Kim’s tour of Russia’s Far East, which began on Tuesday, has focused intensely on military cooperation, including a symbolic exchange of rifles with Putin and an inspection of […]
Kim inspects key weapons with Russian defence chief
MOSCOW, Sept 16, 2023 (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Saturday with the Russian defence minister in Vladivostok, where he inspected state-of-the-art weapons including a hypersonic missile system on the latest leg of a rare visit outside his country. Upon arriving in Vladivostok, a Pacific port city near the Chinese and North Korean borders, Kim was greeted by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and an honour guard. Shoigu and Kim were seen smiling […]
Kim visits fighter jets factory on Russia tour
MOSCOW, Sept 15, 2023 (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a Russian military aviation factory on Friday following his summit with President Vladimir Putin, as the two countries ostracised by the West seek deeper ties. Historic allies, Russia and North Korea are both under rafts of global sanctions — Moscow for its Ukraine conflict, Pyongyang for its nuclear tests — with Kim’s rare foreign visit sparking concern from Kyiv’s allies over a […]
Romania builds air-raid shelters near Ukraine border
BUCHAREST, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – NATO member Romania announced Tuesday that it has begun building air-raid shelters for residents near the Ukraine border, after drone fragments were found there last week. Romanian soldiers on Saturday found fragments of a drone “similar to those used by the Russian army” in the Plauru area across the border from Ukraine. Bucharest has already beefed up measures to strengthen monitoring and airspace security following repeated Russian attacks close […]
Cuba uncovers human trafficking for Russia’s war in Ukraine
HAVANA, Sept 5, 2023 (AFP) – Cuba has identified an alleged human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting its citizens to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine, the foreign ministry said Monday. The government was working to dismantle a “trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces involved in military operations in Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement. The Cuban government had […]
URGENT: Brent oil jumps above $90 for first time since November
The price of Brent oil rose above $90 per barrel for the first time since November on Tuesday as Saudi Arabia and Russia announced they were extending their respective production and export cuts. The international benchmark rose 1.4 percent to reach $90.24 at 1350 GMT while West Texas Intermediate, the main US futures contract, jumped 1.9 percent to $87.16. This is a developing story… © Agence France-Presse
N.Korea’s Kim set for arms talks with Putin in Russia: US
WASHINGTON, Sept 4, 2023 (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expects to make a rare trip abroad to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Russia to discuss providing arms to Moscow for its war in Ukraine, the United States said Monday. Ukraine is pushing a highly-scrutinised counteroffensive in both the south and east that Putin on Monday dismissed as a failure, though Moscow appears eager to urgently secure more military supplies to bolster […]
Russian airport attacked from own territory, Ukraine says
KYIV, Ukraine, Sept 1, 2023 (AFP) – Ukraine’s military intelligence said Friday that a recent drone attack on an airport in northwestern Russia which damaged several transport planes was carried out from within Russian territory. The claim, falling on the first day of the school year, came as President Vladimir Putin told Russian students that their country was “invincible” and police in Kyiv scrambled to respond to bomb threats in schools. The attack this week […]
Drone attack on Russian airport near Estonia border: official
MOSCOW, Aug 30, 2023 (AFP) – A Russian airport near the border with Estonia came under drone attack, the local governor said on Wednesday, with reports that planes were damaged. Regional governor Mikhail Vedernikov, who said he was at the scene of the attack, posted a video on Telegram of a massive fire, with the sounds of explosions and sirens in the background. A drone attack “has been repelled in Pskov airport,” Vedernikov wrote, adding […]
Meta fights sprawling Chinese ‘Spamouflage’ operation
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 29, 2023 (AFP) – Meta on Tuesday said it purged thousands of Facebook accounts that were part of a widespread online Chinese spam operation trying to covertly boost China and criticize the West. The campaign, which became known as “Spamouflage”, was active across more than 50 platforms and forums including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X, formerly known as Twitter, according to a Meta threat report. “We assess that it’s the largest, […]
Russia charges US embassy ‘informant’ on Ukraine
MOSCOW, Aug 28, 2023 (AFP) – Russia on Monday accused a former US consulate employee of illegally passing data about the Ukraine conflict to American diplomats, drawing a protest from Washington which has called his activities routine. The Russian Security Service (FSB) also announced it was seeking to question two US diplomats at the embassy in Moscow over the case, in a break from diplomatic tradition. The announcement is the latest in a series of […]
