Ukraine war briefing: Kim Jong-un vows ongoing support for Russia’s ‘just cause’
North Korean leader also pledged further development of nuclear forces; UK foreign secretary says no imminent peace talks with Russia. What we know on day 1,082
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has pledged his ongoing support of Russia’s “just cause” in its war with Ukraine. Kim said the army and people of North Korea “will invariably support and encourage the just cause of the Russian army and people to defend their sovereignty, security and territorial integrity”. In response to the trilateral military cooperation among the US, Japan and South Korea, Kim reiterated the country’s “unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces”. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed this week that North Korean troops have returned to the frontline in Russia’s Kursk region, after reports Moscow had withdrawn them due to heavy losses. Last month, South Korea said it suspected North Korea of preparing to send more troops to Russia, in addition to about 11,000 soldiers who had been sent to bolster Moscow’s forces in the near-three-year war.
UK foreign secretary David Lammy has said there would be no imminent end to fighting in Ukraine despite Donald Trump’s promises to broker a swift end to the conflict. “I am not sure we are weeks away from peace talks. And I say that because our assessment, which I’m quite sure the US shares, is that [Vladimir] Putin shows absolutely no appetite for negotiation and to bring this war to an end,” Lammy said after meeting Zelenskyy and senior Ukrainian officials in Kyiv. British prime minister Keir Starmer, who has said the UK will “play a full part” in any future security guarantees, has not ruled out sending British troops into Ukraine to act as peacekeepers in the event of a ceasefire with Russia. But Lammy said discussions with European and G7 allies over what type of guarantees might be necessary would “run for some months yet” and it was “premature” to anticipate what role the UK would play.
Russia says it sees no positive steps from the new US administration on disarmament, RIA state news agency reports. Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, said in an interview Russia was “ready to maintain smooth relations of cooperation with any American administration”. “We would be ready to do this within the framework of the Conference on Disarmament … So far, we do not see any positive progress in this regard in Geneva,” Gatilov said.
Zelenskyy says he has met the chair of Nato’s military committee to review the capacities of Ukraine’s long-range weaponry, in a post on X. During a visit with Giuseppe Cavo Dragone to a defence industry enterprise, Zelenskyy confirmed key topics of discussion included continued military assistance from Nato member states and direct investments in domestic production of long-range drones.
A Russian telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea was damaged by an “external impact”, Russian state media news agency Tass reported. The country’s state-owned Rostelecom company said restoration work was under way but did not provide further details and it was unclear when the damage occurred. The Baltic Sea region has been on high alert after a string of outages affecting power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines between the Baltics and Sweden or Finland, leading to increased surveillance operations by Nato members. All were believed to have been caused by ships dragging anchors along the seabed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has denied any involvement.
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