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.
Ukraine ‘entering potentially decisive phase’ in Russia’s war, says ex-Nato ambassador
Ukraine is entering a “potentially decisive phase” in Russia’s war which will be crucial for Britain’s future security and prosperity, the UK’s former representative to Nato has said.
Speaking to Sky News in the wake of Volodymyr Zelensky’s interview discussing how to end the “hot phase” of the war, Sir Adam Thomson said: “This is a very significant statement by President Zelensky.
“With a new US administration coming in, we’re entering a potentially decisive phase in the Ukraine war that’s going to be crucial for the UK’s security and prosperity for years to come.
“Zelensky is addressing his own domestic audience, and is preparing them for compromises, but above all in this interview he is making opening moves in what’s likely to be an extended negotiation with the incoming Trump administration about what line Washington is going to take with the Kremlin.
“He’s moving Ukraine to a much more realistic position. Still not necessarily an achievable one, but more realistic.
“About three quarters of Nato allies, I would say, privately think that if it could be done Nato membership would be the least bad outcome in the sense of being the least expensive and the most stable outcome. But it couldn’t be done without the US president being wholly behind it and persuading two thirds of the US senate and quite a number of doubting allies.”
Desertion threatens to starve Ukraine's forces at a crucial time in its war with Russia
Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks.
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, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers.
Some take medical leave and never return, haunted by the traumas of war and demoralized by bleak prospects for victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights.
Desertion threatens to starve Ukraine's forces at a crucial time in its war with Russia
Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia
Russia has raised threat of nuclear weapons 200 times, former UK diplomat says
Russia has raised the threat of using nuclear weapons more than 200 times since invading Ukraine, the UK’s former representative to Nato has said.
Sir Adam Thomson told Sky News: “If Ukraine were actually inside Nato it would have the US nuclear guarantee. And this has been a very nuclear conflict.
“Over 200 times Moscow has threatened its nuclear capability as a way of deterring Western countries from helping Ukraine, and it’s perfectly logical therefore that the best way of stabilising this is giving Ukraine the Nato nuclear guarantee.”
He added: “The whole Russian behaviour and use of nuclear threat is extraordinarily dangerous because Putin is actually bluffing until he isn’t, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell when that moment comes.
“But clearly at present Russia is not in a desperate situation where it would contemplate the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine and its bluff in that sense has been called by its use of British and American missiles deeper into Russian territory.”
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