Russian President Vladimir Putin. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

Russian leader Vladimir Putin congratulated Iran’s reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian on his victory in a presidential runoff, the Kremlin said on July 6.

“I hope that your tenure as president will contribute to a reinforcement of constructive bilateral cooperation between our friendly peoples,” Mr. Putin said in a message to Mr. Pezeshkian.

The two countries, the target of stiff Western sanctions, can “coordinate efforts to resolve international issues in a constructive manner,” he said.

Mr. Pezeshkian received more than 16 million votes, around 54 %, while his rival, ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, took more than 13 million, roughly 44%, out of about 30 million votes cast in the second round.

An election was not due until 2025 but was called early after the death of ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

Four candidates ran in the first round held on June 28.

File picture of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar
| Photo Credit: via Reuters

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Astana next week as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to skip it.

Mr. Modi is set to visit Russia from July 8 to 9 in his first trip to that country in nearly five years. After concluding the visit to Russia, he is likely to travel to Austria on July 9 on a two-day trip.

It is learnt that Mr. Modi decided to skip the SCO summit in view of his planned two-nation trip to Russia and Austria. There is no official confirmation on Mr. Modi’s visit to the two countries yet.

The SCO summit to be held on July 3 and 4 is expected to focus on the regional security situation and ways to boost connectivity and trade.

“The Indian delegation at the SCO summit will be led by external affairs minister S. Jaishankar,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing on Friday.

The situation in Afghanistan, the Ukraine conflict and boosting overall security cooperation among the SCO member countries are expected to figure in the summit.

The SCO comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan is an influential economic and security bloc that has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.

Generally, the Indian prime minister participates in the SCO summit.

In a phone conversation on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi conveyed to Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev India’s full support for the success of the summit.

Kazakhstan is hosting the summit in its capacity as the current chair of the grouping.

India was the chair of the SCO last year. It hosted the SCO summit in the virtual format in July last year.

India’s association with the SCO began in 2005 as an observer country. It became a full member state of the SCO at the Astana summit in 2017.

India has shown a keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.

The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Pakistan became its permanent member along with India in 2017.

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda is in China on a visit that brings the leader of a NATO member to a country that has backed Russia in its full-on invasion of Ukraine.

“I am trying to maintain friendly relations with China, Poland has always had decent relations with China and I would like that to be continued,” Mr. Duda said in an interview on private Radio Zet on June 21.

He was scheduled to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on June 24 and has said peace in Ukraine will be discussed.

Asked if he believes that China is holding a key to peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Mr. Duda said: “I think that to a large degree, yes.” While China says it is neutral in the fighting, it has blamed NATO’s expansion for provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin into launching the invasion and has maintained robust trade and diplomatic relations with Moscow. Poland borders Ukraine and has provided refuge for those fleeing the fighting and maintained a hard line against further expansion of Russian aggression.

Mr. Duda said he will also talk to Mr. Xi about Belarus exerting migration pressure on the border with Poland, as a form of hybrid war that also includes cyberattacks. Mr. Duda will also seek a visa waiver for Poles traveling to China and will seek possibilities of increasing Poland’s exports there, to balance their trade relations.

State Statistics Poland said 13.9% of the nation’s imports last year were from China, while Polish exports to China were just a fraction of that amount. Some trade agreements are to be signed during the visit.

On Wednesday, Mr. Duda will fly to the financial hub of Shanghai to attend a Poland-China economic forum.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A nuclear-powered United States aircraft carrier arrived on June 22 in South Korea for a three-way exercise stepping up their military training to cope with North Korean threats that escalated with its alignment with Russia.

The arrival of the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group in Busan came a day after South Korea summoned the Russian Ambassador to protest a pact reached between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week that pledges mutual defence assistance in the event of war.

South Korea says the deal poses a threat to its security and warned that it could consider sending arms to Ukraine to help fight off the Russian invasion as a response — a move that would surely ruin its relations with Moscow.

Following a meeting between their defence chiefs in Singapore earlier in June, the United States, South Korea and Japan announced Freedom Edge. The new multidomain exercise is aimed at sharpening the countries’ combined response in various areas of operation, including air, sea and cyberspace.

The Theodore Roosevelt strike group will participate in the exercise that is expected to start within June. South Korea’s military didn’t immediately confirm specific details of the training.

South Korea’s navy said in a statement that the arrival of Theodore Roosevelt demonstrates the strong defence posture of the allies and “stern willingness to respond to advancing North Korean threats.” The carrier’s visit comes seven months after another U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, came to South Korea in a show of strength against the North.

The Theodore Roosevelt strike group also participated in a three-way exercise with South Korean and Japanese naval forces in April in the disputed East China Sea, where worries about China’s territorial claims are rising.

In the face of growing North Korean threats, the United States, South Korea and Japan have expanded their combined training and boosted the visibility of strategic U.S. military assets in the region, seeking to intimidate the North. The United States and South Korea have also been updating their nuclear deterrence strategies, with Seoul seeking stronger assurances that Washington would swiftly and decisively use its nuclear capabilities to defend its ally from a North Korean nuclear attack.

Seoul:

North Korea’s state media on Thursday unveiled the full text of a mutual defence pact signed a day ago by its leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Kim said would elevate bilateral ties to something akin to an “alliance”.

Formally named “Treaty on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”, the pact takes effect upon ratification unless either side suspends it.

Here are some key points of the agreement:

– Develop a permanent partnership based on the principles of mutual respect for national sovereignty, non-aggression on territory, non-interference in internal affairs and equality, as well as other international legal principles.

– Aim for global strategic stability and a fair and equal new international order, and strengthen strategic and tactical cooperation.

– Activate communication channels without delay if either side faces a direct threat of potential armed aggression.

– Immediately provide military and other assistance using all available means if either side is in a state of war, in line with Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, which covers the individual or collective right of states to self-defence against armed attack.

– Not sign any treaty with a third country that infringes on the other side’s core interests, or allow territories to be used by a third country seeking to violate the other’s security and sovereignty.

– Support peace-loving policies to protect sovereignty, security and stability, and actively cooperate in building a just and multipolar new world order.

– Cooperate at the U.N. and other international organisations on issues of mutual interest and security, and support each other’s accession to relevant entities.

– Prepare measures to take joint actions to strengthen defence capabilities with the aim of preventing war and ensuring regional and international peace and security.

– Work together to tackle challenges and threats on the areas of strategic significance, including food, energy security, information and communication technology, climate change, health and supply chains.

– Expand cooperation in trade, economy, investment and science and technology, support both sides’ special or free economic zones, and develop exchanges and joint research in science and technology, including space, biology, peaceful use of nuclear energy, artificial intelligence and information technology.

– Support regional and cross-border cooperation, and create favourable conditions for establishing direct economic and trade links between both sides’ border regions, such as by forming business bodies and holding forums and exhibitions.

– Strengthen exchanges in agriculture, education, health, sports, culture and tourism, and seek cooperation in environmental protection, natural disaster prevention and elimination of their consequences.

– Promote mutual recognition of product standards, test records and quality certificates, and develop expert training and exchanges of test results.

– Protect the legal rights and interests of the other party’s legal entities and citizens, and cooperate in providing legal assistance, extradition and transfer of persons, as well as returning assets obtained through criminal methods.

– Deepen exchanges of legislative and law enforcement institutions.

– Oppose unilateral coercive measures targeting each side as illegal and in violation of the U.N. Charter and international legal norms, and coordinate efforts to block them.

– Work together to tackle challenges and threats in the areas of international terrorism, extremism, transnational organised crimes, human trafficking, hostage-taking, illegal immigration, illegal flows of funds, money laundering, financing for dissemination of weapons of mass destruction, illegal acts that pose a threat to the safety of civil aviation and maritime navigation, and production and distribution of drugs and psychotropic products.

– Promote cooperation on information security, advocate equal rights in managing information and communication networks, and oppose the misuse of such technologies to tarnish the dignity and image of sovereign countries and infringe on their rights.

– Promote cooperation in the field of public affairs and publication, and encourage the dissemination of each other’s literature.

– Supply objective information about each other, and work together to combat false information and provocative propaganda activities.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Seoul:

Vladimir Putin promised to build trade and security systems with North Korea that are not controlled by the West and pledged his unwavering support in a letter published by North Korean state media on Tuesday ahead of his planned visit to the country.

In the letter, printed in North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers’ Party mouthpiece, the Russian president said the two countries have developed good relations and partnerships over the past 70 years based on equality, mutual respect and trust.

“We will develop alternative mechanisms of trade and mutual settlements that are not controlled by the West, and jointly resist illegitimate unilateral restrictions,” Putin wrote. “And at the same time – we will build an architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia.”

He thanked North Korea for supporting what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine, and vowed support for Pyongyang’s efforts to defend its interests despite what he called “U.S. pressure, blackmail and military threats”.

The article was published a day after the two countries announced that Putin would visit North Korea for the first time in 24 years for two days starting on Tuesday.

Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Russia and North Korea may sign a partnership agreement during the visit that would include security issues.

He said the deal would not be directed against any other country, but would “outline prospects for further cooperation, and will be signed taking into account what has happened between our countries in recent years – in the field of international politics, in the field of economics … including, of course, taking into account security issues.”

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the ministers for natural resources, health, and transport, the heads of the Russian space agency and its railways, and Putin’s point man for energy, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, will be part of the delegation.

The visit will include one-on-one discussions between the two leaders, as well as a gala concert, state reception, honour guards, document signings, and a statement to the media, Assistant to the Head of State Yuri Ushakov told reporters, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.

Ahead of the visit North Korea appears to have been making preparations for a possible military parade in downtown Pyongyang, commercial satellite imagery showed.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller repeated charges on Monday that North Korea had supplied “dozens of ballistic missiles and over 11,000 containers of munitions to Russia” for use in Ukraine.

He said the United States had seen Putin “get incredibly desperate over the past few months” and look to Iran and North Korea to make up for equipment lost on the battlefield.

Moscow and Pyongyang have denied arms transfers.

The summit presents the greatest threat to U.S. national security since the Korean War, said Victor Cha, a former U.S. national security official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“This relationship, deep in history and reinvigorated by the war in Ukraine, undermines the security of Europe, Asia, and the U.S. homeland,” he wrote in a report on Monday.

He called on Washington to work with Europe and other partners to increase economic and diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang, engage with China, and launch a major human rights and information campaign to flood the reclusive North with outside media.

Formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions for its ballistic missile and nuclear programs since 2006, and those measures have been strengthened over the years.

For the past several years the Security Council has been divided over how to deal with Pyongyang. Russia and China say more sanctions will not help and want such measures to be eased. They proposed some sanctions be lifted in December 2019, but have never put their draft resolution to a vote.

In May 2022, the pair vetoed a U.S.-led push to impose more U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its renewed ballistic missile launches. Russia then vetoed in March this year the renewal of a panel of experts monitoring enforcement of U.N. sanctions.

China and Russia say joint military drills by the United States and South Korea provoke Pyongyang, while Washington accuses Beijing and Moscow of emboldening North Korea by shielding it from more sanctions.

After North Korea, Putin will visit Vietnam on June 19-20.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Moscow:

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to North Korea on Tuesday for a “friendly” visit, the Kremlin announced, as the West suspects Pyongyang of supplying Moscow with weapons for its Ukraine offensive.

The visit to the world’s most reclusive state comes as Putin seeks ammunition to continue his military campaign launched in February 2022, which has thrown Moscow into unprecedented global isolation.

It also comes nine months after Putin hosted North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on a rare foreign trip to the Russian Far East, where the pair lavished each other with praise.

“President Vladimir Putin on June 18-19 will go to the North Korean Democratic Republic on a friendly state visit,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

Moscow said Putin will then travel to Vietnam.

Western countries, South Korea and Kyiv have accused Pyongyang of sending weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine, in violation of UN sanctions on North Korea.

Washington and Seoul say Russia has in return provided Pyongyang with technical help for its satellite program and sent aid to the food-strapped state.

Putin has scaled down trips abroad since launching the Ukraine offensive, but has paid some high-profile visits to Moscow’s few key allies such as China.

Pyongyang rarely hosts foreign guests, isolated diplomatically and having shut itself off even more since the Covid pandemic.

Russia and North Korea, which share a small land border, have historic links since the Soviet Union helped found the tiny state after the Korean War in the 1950s.

Since the fall of the USSR, Russia was one of the few countries to have working relations with Pyongyang.

‘Comrades-in-arms’

It will be Putin’s second visit to the country in his time in power, after a trip 24 years ago, shortly after becoming president, to meet Kim Jung Un’s father Kim Jong Il.

Back then, Putin was a frequent traveller, regularly touring the United States and Europe.

Now Russia finds itself under heavy international sanctions and the Kremlin leader is a persona non grata in most of the Western world, officially wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Kim said last week that ties with Russia had “developed into an unbreakable relationship of comrades-in-arms”.

When the leaders saw each other in September, Putin said he saw “possibilities” for military cooperation with North Korea, while Kim wished the Kremlin chief “victory” in Ukraine.

They symbolically gifted each other rifles and the Kremlin promised that Putin would visit in turn.

A string of Russian officials, including Moscow’s spy chief, have since visited North Korea in preparation for the visit.

In March, Russia also used its UN Security Council veto to effectively end UN monitoring of North Korean sanctions violations, a move seen as a victory for Pyongyang.

Both Russia and North Korea have denied that Pyongyang’s weapons are being used in Ukraine.

Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jon, accused Seoul and Washington last month of “misleading public opinion” on the issue.

North Korean shells

Ukraine, however, has reported finding North Korean shells on the battlefield.

In May, South Korea said its northern rival fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles, with some experts saying they could be tests for weapons destined for use against Ukraine.

As the Kremlin and Pyongyang have publicly deepened their ties, Moscow’s relationship with South Korea — a Ukraine backer — has been hugely strained.

Seoul is a major weapons exporter to Kyiv. Its President Yoon Suk Yeol last month promised to maintain its support in a phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

South Korea last month announced separate sanctions on Russian and North Korean individuals and companies allegedly trading military supplies.

For its part, Russia earlier this year detained a South Korean man, Baek Won-soon, on spy charges. He is believed to be the first South Korean detained on espionage charges in Russia for decades.

According to media reports, he may have been a missionary helping North Korean workers in Russia escape the country.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Vietnam on June 19 and 20, after repeated invitations from Vietnamese leaders.
| Photo Credit: AP

The United States criticised Vietnam for having invited Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to Hanoi, the U.S. embassy in Hanoi said ahead of an expected state visit this week.

Mr. Putin is expected to visit Vietnam on June 19 and 20, after repeated invitations from Vietnamese leaders.

The U.S. has led Western sanctions on Russia following its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022. In March last year, the Hague-based International Criminal Court’s (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

“No country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalize his atrocities,” a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Hanoi said when asked about the impact of the expected visit on ties with the United States.

“If he is able to travel freely, it could normalise Russia’s blatant violations of international law,” the spokesperson added, referring to the invasion that Russia describes as a “special operation”. The U.S. upgraded relations with Hanoi last year and is Vietnam’s top trading partner.

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry did not reply to a request for comment. Mr. Putin’s visit has not yet been formally announced, but multiple officials have confirmed the trip, which would be his first to Vietnam since 2017. The two countries have historically close ties.

“We cannot return to business as usual or turn a blind eye to the clear violations of international law Russia has committed in Ukraine. There needs to be accountability for those responsible for war crimes,” the U.S. embassy spokesperson added. Neither Vietnam, Russia or the U.S. are members of the ICC.

Moscow:

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that President Vladimir Putin had appointed Alexei Dyumin, an aide and former bodyguard, as secretary of the State Council, an advisory body to the Russian head of state.

After being re-elected for another six-year term earlier this year, Putin made Dyumin an aide specialising in the defence industry and the Kremlin spoke at the time of other responsibilities for him.

A decree signed by Putin appointing him to the State Council role was published on the Kremlin’s website on Wednesday morning.

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said earlier this month that many people believed that Putin saw Dyumin as his successor.

Putin, 71, is embarking on a new six-year term and is expected to rule for years to come and there is no reliable information on who he may favour to one day succeed him.

But the name of Dyumin, among others, has long been the subject of speculation among Moscow’s political elite.

Dyumin, 51, was brought into the Kremlin earlier this month after serving as a regional governor of Russia’s Tula region.

Dyumin entered Russia’s Federal Guards Service (FSO), which ensures the security of the Kremlin elite, in 1995 and guarded Putin during his first and second terms. He has also worked as deputy head of the GRU (Russian military intelligence).

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Russia to practice tactical nuclear weapon scenario – defence ministry. File Picture
| Photo Credit: AP

Russia on May 6 said it would hold a military exercise that will include practice for the use of tactical nuclear weapons after what the defence ministry said were provocative threats from Western officials.

The defence ministry said the exercise was ordered by President Vladimir Putin and would test the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to perform combat missions.

The military drills will include practice for the preparation and deployment for use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, the defence ministry said. Missile formations in the Southern Military District and naval forces will take part.

“During the exercise, a set of measures will be carried out to practice the issues of preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons,” the defence ministry said.

Russia has the world’s largest arsenal of nuclear weapons.

The exercise is aimed at ensuring Russia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty “in response to provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation”, the ministry said.

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine touched off the worst breakdown in relations between it and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, according to Russian and U.S. diplomats.

Russia casts the war as a battle with the West, which Putin says ignored Moscow’s attempt at friendship after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union and sought to grab control of Ukraine while enlarging the NATO military alliance eastwards.

The West and Ukraine say they will not rest until Russian forces are defeated, and cast the war as an imperial-style land grab aimed at forcing the country back into Moscow’s orbit.