Volodymyr Zelensky is not angry. The Ukrainian president refused to receive the Secretary General of the United Nations in kyiv because of Antonio Guterres’ visit to Kazan, Russia, on Thursday for the Brics summit. The UN chief’s meeting with Vladimir Putin was sharply criticized in Ukraine.
Information to remember:
⇒ The head of the UN persona non grata in kyiv
⇒ Seoul “worried” about Russia-North Korea rapprochement
⇒ Kremlin denies reports Putin and Musk were in secret contact since 2022
UN boss persona non grata in kyiv
“After Kazan, he (Guterres, Editor’s note) wanted to come to Ukraine but the president (Zelensky, Editor’s note) did not confirm his visit”, due to the “humiliation” inflicted on international law in Kazan, declared this Friday a senior official in the Ukrainian presidency, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Antonio Guterres traveled to Russia on Thursday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Brics summit which was attended by the leaders of India and China. The UN Secretary-General spoke with Vladimir Putin, reiterating “his position that the Russian invasion of Ukraine” was a “violation” of international law, according to a statement from his spokesperson’s office . The Kremlin has not yet provided information on the content of their face-to-face discussions.
Seoul “worried” about Russia-North Korea rapprochement
South Korea expressed “grave concern” this Friday after Russia’s ratification of the Russia-North Korea treaty while North Korean troops are currently deployed in Russia, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense. Foreign Affairs.
The South Korean government “urges the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops and a cessation of illegal cooperation,” the South Korean ministry added. On Thursday, Russian MPs voted, unanimously and unsurprisingly, to ratify the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty” with North Korea. The text signed on June 19, during a rare visit by President Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang, provides in article 4 for “immediate military aid” in the event of armed aggression from third countries.
North Korea also assured this Friday that any deployment of its troops in Russia would be “in accordance” with international law, according to the official KCNA agency, without confirming or denying that it had already sent soldiers.
Zelensky calls for “intangible pressure”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for “intangible pressure” from his Western allies on Russia and North Korea. According to the Ukrainian leader, North Korean soldiers will begin fighting against Ukrainian troops from Sunday, raising fears of a new “escalation” in the war that has pitted Russia against Ukraine for 32 months.
Volodymyr Zelensky called on Westerners to “punish” the Russia-North Korea duo, who have become very close for two years, with kyiv’s allies accusing Pyongyang of supplying ammunition to the Russian army.
kyiv said Thursday it had evidence that soldiers from Pyongyang had already arrived in the “combat zone” of the Russian border region of Kursk. What Pyongyang and Moscow have denied.
Putin: “It’s our business”
Faced with Western accusations, Vladimir Putin reacted on Friday in an interview broadcast by Russian state television. “It is up to us to decide sovereignly whether we put something in place or not, where, how, whether we need it, or whether we will simply organize, for example, (joint military) exercises, training or even share the experience” of the battlefield, declared the Russian president at the close of the Brics summit. “It’s our business,” added the master of the Kremlin.
Kremlin denies reports Putin and Musk were in secret contact since 2022
The Kremlin denied this Friday information from Wall Street Journal that Russian President Vladimir Putin and billionaire Elon Musk had been in secret and regular contact since late 2022, claiming that the two men had only one telephone conversation and that it took place before that date.
According to an article posted online Thursday evening by the Wall Street Journal quoting Western and Russian officials, Putin and Musk, the richest man on the planet, boss in particular of SpaceX, addressed personal but also geopolitical or commercial themes during such contacts. The Russian president notably, according to two sources from the Wall Street Journalasked Elon Musk not to activate his Starlink service, which provides access to the internet via satellite, over Taiwan. It was a “favor” granted to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to this American media.
“All of this is false, it is absolutely false information published in the newspaper,” assured the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, when questioned by journalists about the content of this article. Vladimir Putin and Elon Musk had “contact before 2022”, he added. “It was a telephone conversation of medium duration. It was the only contact,” insisted Dmitri Peskov.