RT News June 20th 2024 Late, Presidents Putin & Kim Jong-Un sign documents

President Putin was in North Korea and has signed a new partnership agreement, which will include mutual assistance in case of aggression from foreign countries against either nation if one comes under threat. President Kim Jong-Un says the agreement is purely of a peaceful nature designed to protect the interest of both countries and said it's a step towards a multipolar world. (I will try to get a transcript of the meeting and post here later) or you can find the transcript here long with some good pictures. You don't need a VPN to access this site and there's all sorts of interesting things on it.
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/74334

Michael Maloof and Nikki discuss the relevance of the President's press conference and the day's meeting. Steve Sweeney talks about the reactions from external countries.

President Putin had a go in the car he gave to Kim Jong-Un (nice). Donald Courter was in DPRK with the delegation and he had a great time it seems, his hands and arms were sore from waving he said earlier. He speaks about what went on in other areas than just "diplomatic" and what could be the way forward in terms of unjust sanctions applied on both countries and leaders.
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Israel/Gaza/ and now Lebanon updates. Israel has carried out a number of strikes in south Lebanon. Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, has threated to destroy Hezbollah. Less "formal" attacks from both Lebanon and Israel have continued for months. Hezbollah has published surveillance footage of the port of Haifa. This escalation is getting really serious as Hezbollah had boosted it's military capability some time back - and the last time Israel took them on, Israel lost. Esteban Carrillo analyses what the prospects are if Israel fully opens "the war front" with Lebanon.
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In South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa has been inaugurated as President, following the recent elections. This will be his second term.
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Updates from the Kharkov front, Igor Zhdanov reports.
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ISIS K could have infiltrated Europe via Germany posing as asylum seekers and refugees from Ukraine. Thomas Haldenwang (German Federal Domestic Intelligence Chief) spoke of this in a press conference. Gunnar Beck speaks of the German welfare benefits which attract refugees, asylum seekers and terrorists alike.

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short take : President Vladimir Putin says Russia’s new partnership agreement with the DPRK includes mutual assistance in the case of aggression against either nation. That’s as he praises Pyongyang’s full support for Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine. A colourful and festive official ceremony welcoming the Russian President took place in the heart of Pyongyang. Our correspondent Don Courter brings all the details from the event. Meanwhile, the US says everyone must be concerned about Moscow’s deepening ties with Pyongyang. Russia has advised Washington to mind its own leader’s moves. The IDF carries out fresh strikes on southern Lebanon shortly after the Israeli Foreign Minister openly vows an ‘all-out war’ against Hezbollah.

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Putin’s state visit to North Korea: Warm welcome, bilateral agreements and a new comprehensive partnership treaty 19 Jun, 2024 16:58

Moscow and Pyongyang have agreed to enhance cooperation in all spheres and defend each other from potential foreign aggression.

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Wednesday, where he met with the country’s leader Kim Jong-un and participated in comprehensive bilateral talks on economic, security, and global issues.

The trip marked the first time the Russian president had travelled to North Korea since first taking office in 2000, when he visited Pyongyang to meet with then-leader Kim Jong-il.

Putin’s delegation included Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defence Minister Andrey Belousov, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt, and several other senior officials, including Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov.

Grand reception in Pyongyang

Putin touched down in the North Korean capital in the early hours of Wednesday and was greeted by Kim Jong-un at the airport. Ahead of his arrival, the streets of Pyongyang were decked out with countless Russian flags, alternating with DPRK flags. Multiple banners were also placed along the route of the presidential motorcade, featuring greetings in Russian and Korean, and portraits of the Russian head of state.

A ceremony was also held in honour of Putin’s arrival on Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang. The event featured a performance by a DPRK military orchestra, as hundreds of residents packed the square for the occasion.

Aside from formal negotiations and signing official documents, Putin exchanged gifts with Kim, attended a gala concert, laid flowers at a monument to Soviet soldiers who helped liberate Korea from Japan during World War II, and took part in a reception in honour of the Russian delegation’s visit.

Negotiations

Talks between Kim Jong-un and Putin, which involved the countries’ delegations, lasted for an hour and a half, and were followed by a one-on-one discussion between the two leaders.

During the meeting, both sides expressed appreciation for each other’s support. The Russian leader noted that relations between the two nations are rooted in history, and based on the principles of “equality and mutual respect of each other’s interests.”

Kim stated that North Korea sees Russia as “the most honest friend and comrade” and noted Russia’s mission and role in “upholding strategic stability and balance in the world.” He also expressed Pyongyang’s support for Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.

Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty

Following the bilateral negotiations, Putin and Kim signed a Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, designed to “lay the groundwork” for future bilateral relations in all spheres, including cultural and tourist ties, trade, economic relations and security.

The agreement also includes a pledge by Russia and the DPRK to assist each other in case of foreign aggression, as both leaders decried attempts by the US and its satellites to destabilize the situation in Southeast Asia.

Putin emphasized Pyongyang’s right to take “reasonable steps” to ensure its security and protect its sovereignty, and vowed to engage in political and diplomatic efforts to prevent a new armed conflict on the Korean peninsula.

He also denounced the “indefinite restrictions regime” imposed on Pyongyang by the UN Security Council and urged for it to be revised.

Kim described the new agreement as a “peaceful and defensive” document that “provides for maintaining peace and stability in the region.” He added that the treaty promotes the common interests of Russia and the DPRK, and expressed confidence that it would become “a driving force in accelerating the creation of a new multipolar world.”

Following his official visit, Putin formally invited Kim to make a return visit to Moscow at some point in the future, and thanked the residents of Pyongyang for the warm welcome.

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US-supplied F-16s to be stationed inside Ukraine – White House 19 Jun, 2024 10:57

Vladimir Zelensky and President Joe Biden had previously signed a bilateral security agreement on the fighter jets.

F-16 warplanes transferred to Kiev by Washington will be stationed on Ukrainian territory, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has announced in an interview with PBS news channel.

He revealed the plan after US President Joe Biden and Vladimir Zelensky signed a ten-year bilateral security agreement last week, under which Washington has pledged to continue backing Kiev in its conflict with Moscow.

Zelensky announced after the deal was signed that the US had promised to supply Ukraine not only with weapons, including Patriot air-defense systems, but also with “squadrons” of fighter jets comprising F-16s as well as other aircraft.

The US, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, have pledged to provide Ukraine with up to 60 F-16 jets by the end of this year. Kiev has on several occasions suggested that the Western-supplied fighters could be stationed outside Ukraine, on the territories of neighbouring NATO countries where they would be “safe.”

Sullivan, however, said the “plan is to put the F-16s in Ukraine,” adding that the bilateral security agreement signed by Biden and Zelensky had “reinforced this point.”

“We want to help Ukraine have this capability. It should be a capability based in Ukraine,” he said.

Meanwhile, Moscow has repeatedly warned that any Western weapons delivered to Ukraine would become legitimate targets for strikes by Russian forces and would not have any effect on the ultimate outcome of the conflict, leading only to more bloodshed.

The chair of the Russian parliament’s Defence Committee, Andrey Kartapolov, has also warned that if any of Kiev’s F-16s are stationed outside of Ukraine and are used in combat operations against Russia, then Moscow would consider those foreign bases to be “legitimate targets.”

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19 Jun, 2024 09:47

Russia and North Korea agree on mutual aid against aggression – Putin 19 Jun, 2024 09:47

Pyongyang has the right to defend its sovereignty against the US, the Russian leader has said.

Moscow and Pyongyang have pledged to assist each other against foreign aggression, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday during a visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Putin and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-un, signed a strategic partnership which will serve as a roadmap for future cooperation in all spheres, from cultural and tourist ties, to trade, economic relations and security, the Russian leader has said, calling it “truly a breakthrough.”

“The document on comprehensive partnership that we have signed today provides, among other things, for mutual aid in case of aggression against one of the participants,” the president added.

Moscow supports Pyongyang’s intention to protect its security and sovereignty from possible Western aggression, which is its right, Putin said. The country considers the US and its allies responsible for the increasing tensions in the region, he added.

“Overused Western propaganda tropes can no longer hide their aggressive geopolitical intentions, including in North western Asia,” Putin said.

Putin noted that Western nations were supplying advanced weapons to Ukraine and have given Kiev the green light to strike Russia. Under these circumstances, “Russia does not rule out the development of military cooperation with the DPRK under the document signed today.”

The visiting head of state denounced the “indefinite restrictions regime” imposed on North Korea by the UN Security Council, which includes an arms embargo, as “orchestrated by the US” and urged for it to be revised.

The Russian president had previously warned the West over Kiev’s desire to use donated weapons to conduct attacks deep inside Russia. Should that happen, Moscow could send similar types of weapons to enemies of the West, which could use them to strike the military assets of the US and its allies, he said earlier this month.

Pyongyang has an “objective and balanced” stance on the Ukraine conflict and sees its core causes, which proves North Korea’s independence and sovereignty, Putin said. The two nations are also on the same page in supporting “a more just and democratic multipolar world” that should replace the previous Western-centric system.

”We will continue to oppose the imposition of strangling sanctions, which the West has turned into a tool of maintaining its hegemony in politics, the economy and other areas,” the president vowed.

Recalling the lengthy record of Russian cooperation with North Korea, Putin noted the role that the Soviet Union played in the fight against Imperial Japan during the Second World War and the reconstruction efforts following the Korean civil war, which split the Korean Peninsula between two rivals. Moscow was the party with which Pyongyang signed its first international agreement 75 years ago, he added.

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