The US suggests Moscow is “desperate” after Vladimir Putin met with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un – as the Russian president claims he is willing to open peace talks. Listen to a Daily podcast on the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un as you scroll.
Friday 15 September 2023 22:53, UK
Kim Jong Un expressed admiration for Russia’s aviation technology undergoing rapid development during his visit to a Russian fighter jet factory today, the North Korean news agency KCNA reports.
Earlier today, Mr Kim inspected the Russian fighter jet factory, which is under Western sanctions, as part of his visit in Russia.
The North Korean leader met test pilots, climbed onto an airliner produced by the plant and watched the test flight of an Su-35 fighter jet.
Mr Kim’s stay is expected to continue on Saturday, possibly with a visit to the eastern city of Vladivostok and a naval base.
The Kremlin said today that Russia and North Korea had not signed any agreements on military matters or on any other areas during Mr Kim’s visit to Russia this week.
Is Russia running out of ammunition? It’s a question Ukraine and its allies have been pondering as the war continues well into its second year.
There is evidence that Russia is getting supplies from abroad. This week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in Russia to meet Vladimir Putin and it’s thought that ammunition supplies will be up for discussion.
Back in December, the US military estimated that, without outside help, Moscow would burn through its stocks of artillery shells and rockets by early this year – so why haven’t they run out?
It’s certainly true that, whatever supply issues it has encountered, Russia’s war machine continues to rain down misery upon Ukraine’s defenders.
You can read more on Russia’s stocks here…
President Joe Biden will next week meet various world leaders including the presidents of five central Asian countries, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House has said.
Mr Biden will discuss a range of issues including climate change, the war in Ukraine and security, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
It comes after it was reported that Mr Zelenskyy will visit Congress next week.
It’s believed Mr Zelenskyy will travel to Washington after attending a gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York.
By Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor
Ukraine has confirmed that British as well as French cruise missiles – fired from either wing of a Ukrainian bomber – were used in a major attack against Russia’s navy in occupied Crimea.
The strikes, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, devastated one of four Russian cruise missile-capable submarines in its Black Sea Fleet and a large warship that had been undergoing maintenance in a dry dock in the port city of Sevastopol.
Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, the head of the Ukrainian air force, explained that British Storm Shadow missiles had been attached under the left wing of a Ukrainian Su-24 jet and French Scalp missiles under the right wing.
“Both missiles work perfectly, without a chance for the occupier!” he wrote.
It is very rare for Ukrainian commanders to release specific details of an operation.
The air chief signalled his Su-24M bomber aircraft also had the capacity to carry German Taurus missiles – a weapon that Berlin has signalled it may give to Kyiv.
“Then the ‘game of cities’ can be continued even more effectively,” the head of the air force said in this Telegram post.
“Once again, I thank our Western partners for the weapons and equipment that help us destroy the aggressor and liberate Ukrainian land!”
A Ukrainian and a Western source told Sky News on Wednesday that British Storm Shadow missiles were used in the raid.
France is the only other country to have given Ukraine cruise missiles since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
In a further update on the Sevastopol attack, Britain’s Ministry of Defence identified the two vessels that were hit as the Rostov-na-Donu Kilo class submarine and the landing ship Minsk.
It said the warship “has almost certainly been functionally destroyed, while the Rostov has likely suffered catastrophic damage”.
The UK added: “Any effort to return the submarine to service is likely to take many years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
“There is a realistic possibility that the complex task of removing the wreckage from the dry docks will place them out of use for many months.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed the EU’s decision not to further expand the ban on grain exports from Ukraine and called it an example of “true unity and trust”.
As Poland, Slovakia and Hungary on Friday indicated they would impose their own ban after an EU decision to lift it, the Ukrainian leader said that if neighbouring countries violate EU law, “Ukraine will respond in a civilised manner”.
He said the move showed “true unity” between Ukraine and the European Commission, before adding it was “critical that European solidarity now work on a bilateral level”.
Elsewhere, Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was “grateful” to the European Commission.
A bulk carrier has left Ukraine’s Odesa port, deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov has said.
Mr Kubrakov said the Puma carrier, which entered the port on 19 February 2022 and had been unable to depart since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine days later, left Odesa with 14,000 tonnes of rapeseed and 16,000 tonnes of metal.
It is the fifth to sail since Russia withdrew from a safe-passage deal for grain ships.
The Puma is the fifth vessel to leave the port of Odesa since Moscow withdrew from the UN-brokered Black Sea grain export deal in July and threatened to treat all vessels as potential military targets.
In response, Ukraine announced a “humanitarian corridor” hugging the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria.
Hungary and Slovakia have joined Poland in imposing a national import ban on Ukrainian grain – hours after the European Commission said it would not extend a ban on the imports.
Hungary has announced a ban on 24 Ukrainian agricultural products, including grains, vegetables, several meat products and honey, according to a government decree today.
The ban is effective from 16 September.
Meanwhile, Slovakia will go ahead with its own ban on Ukrainian grain imports from midnight, the Slovak television channel TV Markiza cited the country’s agriculture minister Jozef Bires as saying.
Talks on North Korea providing arms to Russia for use against Ukraine have continued to advance after a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said.
Speaking to reporters today, Mr Sullivan also said the US expects to announce additional aid to Ukraine at some point next week.
Mr Kim’s visit to Russia has raised speculation he will supply ammunition to the Kremlin for its war efforts in Ukraine in exchange for receiving advanced weapons or technology from Russia.
Experts say in return for helping Putin replenish war supplies, Mr Kim would seek Russian help to modernise his air force and navy, which are inferior to those of rival South Korea.
Poland has responded to the European Commission’s decision to not extend a ban on imports of Ukrainian grains and said it will extend the ban into its country from midnight.
Speaking to reporters, the country’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said: “We will extend this ban despite their disagreement, despite the European Commission’s disagreement.
“We will do it because it is in the interest of the Polish farmer.”
Farmers in the five countries neighbouring Ukraine have repeatedly complained about a product glut hitting their domestic prices and pushing them towards bankruptcy.
The countries, except Bulgaria, had been pushing for an extension of the ban passed its expiry today.
Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania previously said they may extend the restrictions unilaterally while Bulgaria on Thursday voted to scrap the curbs.
The European Commission has said it will not extend a ban on imports of Ukrainian grains into the country’s five EU neighbours, which is due to expire today.
“It has concluded that thanks to the work of the coordination platform and to the temporary measures introduced on 2 May 2023, the market distortions in the five member states bordering Ukraine have disappeared,” the European Commission said in a statement.
The EU Commission agreed that existing measures expire today while Ukraine agreed to introduce any legal measures (including, for example, an export licensing system) within 30 days to avoid grain surges.
The EU said it would refrain from imposing any restrictions as long as the effective measures by Ukraine are in place and fully working.
Restrictions imposed by the European Union in May allowed Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, while permitting transit of such cargoes for export elsewhere.
The EU created alternative land routes, so-called solidarity lanes, for Ukraine to use to export its grains and oilseeds after Russia backed out the UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal in July that allowed safe passage for the cargo ships.
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