Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin ‘dragging Asia into war’ as North Korea troops join marine and air forces
Pyongyang is said to have dispatched between 10,000-12,000 troops to aid Putin’s forces
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Your support makes all the difference.Vladimir Putin is “dragging Asia” into the war in Ukraine with the use of Chinese-made drones and North Korean troops, the German foreign minister has said.
On a visit to Beijing, Annalena Baerbock stressed the responsibility of permanent members of the UN Security Council, such as China, not to further fuel conflicts with their support.
“Drones from Chinese factories and North Korean troops attacking peace in the centre of Europe violate our core European security interests,” Ms Baerbock said after meeting with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
It comes after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky revealed North Korean soldiers deployed to fight for Russia have been killed.
Pyongyang is said to have dispatched between 10,000-12,000 troops to aid Putin’s forces.
A Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson told Radio Free Europe an additional 2,000 North Korean troops have been assigned to Russia's Marine and airborne units fighting on the front.
Meawhile on the frontlines, Moscow's troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine's east, part of a drive to fully seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian airstrikes continue to target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.
Putin would not accept any part of Ukraine being in Nato, analyst suggests
James Nixey of the Chatham House think-tank has warned that any part of Ukraine being in Nato would be unacceptable to Vladimir Putin, after Volodymyr Zelensky said he could accept territory being temporarily ceded to Russia in exchange for security assurances from the alliance.
“After all, [Nato] is, for him, an abhorrence. Putin doesn’t want a pause anyway – he believes he’s on the brink of an historic and strategic victory, kindly deal-sealed by Donald Trump,” Mr Nixey told The Independent.
Full report: Cabinet minister ‘can’t predict’ whether Ukraine will become part of Nato
Cabinet minister ‘can’t predict’ whether Ukraine will become part of Nato
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that territory under his control should be taken under the ‘Nato umbrella’.
Zelensky: I want to speak with Trump directly without voices around him
Putin raises Russian military spending in 2025 to record levels
Vladimir Putin has approved plans which raise 2025 military spending to record levels, with 13.5trn roubles £99.5bn) – nearly a third of the budget posted on a government website – allocated for national defence.
Politicians in both houses of the Russian parliament have already approved the plans over the past 10 days.
The increase in military spending – from a reported 28.3 to 32.5 per cent of Russia’s budget – comes despite discussions over US president-elect Donald Trump’s desire to bring the war to a rapid end.
More than 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers charged with desertion, prosecutors say
More than 100,000 soldiers have deserted the Ukrainian army, Ukraine’s prosecutor general has said, starving Kyiv of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia.
Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials have told the Associated Press.
Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, military commanders and soldiers said. Some take medical leave and find themselves unable to bring themselves to return. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights.
Nearly half of the 100,000 peope charged have deserted in the last year alone, after Kyiv launched an aggressive mobilisation drive that government officials and military commanders concede has largely failed.
There were an estimated 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers engaged in combat before the mobilisation drive began. One politician with knowledge of military matters estimated the actual number of deserters could be as high as 200,000.
Arms producers saw revenue up in 2023 with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, report finds
Major companies in the arms industry saw a 4.2 per cent increase in overall revenue in 2023 with sharp rises for producers based in Russia and the Middle East, a new report has found.
The report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), said revenues from the top 100 arms companies totaled $632 billion last year in response to surging demand related to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
It said that “smaller producers were more efficient at responding to new demand.”
The 41 US-based arms companies among the world’s top 100 saw revenues of $317 billion (£263bn), a 2.5% increase from 2022, the report said.
Russia’s top two arms companies saw their combined revenues increase by 40 per cent, to an estimated $25.5 billion.
“This was almost entirely due to the 49% increase in arms revenues recorded by Rostec, a state-owned holding company controlling many arms producers,” the SIPRI report said.
Zelensky’s latest Ukraine-Russia war plan is a ‘major concession’ to Putin, says former UK ambassador
Zelensky’s Ukraine-Russia plan ‘would be major concession’ to Putin
Ukrainian president ‘playing a very sophisticated game’ with remarks on Nato, says Sir Tony Brenton
Zelensky and and Scholz visit injured soldiers
Volodymyr Zelensky and Olaf Scholz have visited injured Ukranian soldiers in hostpital following Germany’s military aid announcement.
In a post on X, Mr Zelensky said: “We are deeply grateful to Germany for all the assistance it has provided. Germany stands as a European leader in supporting Ukraine, helping us defend ourselves against Russian aggression and terror.
“Our meeting with Olaf Scholz began with a visit to our warriors, wounded in combat against the occupiers, who are currently undergoing treatment and rehabilitation.”
Commment: Zelensky is playing a clever game with America by talk of ceasefire
Mark Almond: Zelensky is playing a clever game with America by talk of ceasefire
Getting in well with Trump could buy Ukraine, and Zelensky himself, time to reconstruct its economy while hoping for things to go wrong for Putin at home or abroad, writes Mark Almond
German aid to Ukraine will include air defence systems, spokesperson says
German military aid to be delivered to Ukraine in December includes IRIS-T air defence systems, Leopard 1 tanks and armed drones, a defence ministry spokesperson has said.
“Winter is just around the corner, so there will also be winter equipment, as well as hand-held weapons and warming devices,” the spokesperson said just hours after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the deliveries during a surprise trip to Kyiv.
A government spokesperson said the deliveries were part of a military aid package already announced by Berlin in October.
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