Russia buying 'millions of rockets and artillery' from N. Korea for Ukraine war - US – Newstrends
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Russia buying ‘millions of rockets and artillery’ from N. Korea for Ukraine war – US

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, oversees the 'Vostok-2022' military exercises outside Ussuriysk, Russia, Sept. 6, 2022.

With few trade partners and an empty armory, the Kremlin is being forced to turn to North Korea to stock up on vital supplies to fuel its ongoing war in Ukraine, according to a recently declassified U.S. intelligence report.

A U.S. official told ABC News that Russia’s Ministry of Defense was “in the process” of buying “millions of rockets and artillery shells” from the so-called Hermit Kingdom and that the purchases were an indication Moscow’s military “continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions.”

The official added that the intelligence community assessed it would likely become part of a pattern, with Russia seeking “to purchase additional North Korean military equipment going forward.” (Neither country has yet responded to the report.)

The Biden administration touted the development, first reported by The New York Times, as evidence that international sanctions — despite what experts have called some adverse ripple effects in the U.S. — were proving successful even as the White House resisted Kyiv’s calls to impose additional penalties against Russia by branding it a state sponsor of terrorism.

“Our sanctions, export controls and efforts to further isolate Russia from the global economy are having a significant impact,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. “We are choking off Russia’s military supply chains.”

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While North Korea wouldn’t be providing Moscow with the most cutting-edge military technology, its Soviet-era stockpiles could fill a pressing niche by restocking Russian forces with artillery shells compatible with its weapon systems developed during the same timeframe — ammunition it is struggling to supply.

“The fact that they’re reaching out to North Korea is a sign that that they’re having some challenges on the sustainment front,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday.

Ryder added that the intelligence on the weapons sale was declassified so the international community and the American public could better “understand the situation that Russia finds itself as they again continue to wage their campaign in Ukraine.”

So far, American officials have released little information about what — if any — action they intend to take to hinder or penalize Russia’s purchases from North Korea.

The State Department’s principal deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, said that the sale was a clear violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions that prohibit the procurement of arms from North Korea, but he declined to say whether the U.S. planned to raise the issue to the intergovernmental organization or take other steps.

“While all U.N. sanctions are a serious violation, I think particularly concerning here is that a permanent member of the Security Council is floating these measures,” Patel said, referring to Russia’s powerful status within the body.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby added the caveat that there was no indication that the purchase had been completed or that any arms from North Korea were currently being used on battlefields in Ukraine.

Pyongyang isn’t the only pariah Russia has sought to broker an arms deal with in recent weeks. Last month, Moscow acquired drones from Iran. A Department of Defense official told ABC News that while the Kremlin will likely seek to import several hundred more, the initial shipment performed poorly, experiencing “numerous failures.”

Weapons from North Korea and Iran might not significantly move the needle in Ukraine, but U.S. officials are watching carefully to see if a much more significant power comes to Russia’s aid: China.

Beijing and Moscow retain close trade and defense ties, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked concern that the two could forge a military alliance. (China officially remains neutral on the conflict.) The U.S. has warned of intense consequences for China should it sell Moscow military supplies, but so far, there’s no evidence it has violated export controls.

“In terms of what Russia may be asking of China or not, I don’t have any information to provide from the podium on that,” Pentagon spokesman Ryder said, “other than to say that, in an era of strategic competition, we’ll continue to keep a very close eye on Russia and China.”

ABC News

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Trump revokes security details for Biden’s children

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Former US President Joe Biden and US President Donald Trump

Trump revokes security details for Biden’s children

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is withdrawing Hunter Biden’s government bodyguards, extending his campaign of political retribution to Joe Biden’s son.

Trump announced the same measure against Ashley Biden, the former president’s daughter with former first lady Jill.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump asserted that Hunter Biden’s security detail is composed of as many as 18 people, calling it “ridiculous.”

He said Hunter Biden was currently on vacation in South Africa and noted he had recently suspended US aid to the country over alleged rights violations.

“Please be advised that, effective immediately, Hunter Biden will no longer receive Secret Service protection. Likewise, Ashley Biden who has 13 agents will be taken off the list,” Trump wrote.

Federal law grants Secret Service protection to former presidents and their spouses, but only to their children if they are under age 16.

Nonetheless, protection is often extended for a period of time to adult children.

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A Secret Service spokesperson, when queried about Trump’s action, told AFP: “We are aware of the President’s decision to terminate protection for Hunter and Ashley Biden.”

“The Secret Service will comply and is actively working with the protective details and the White House to ensure compliance as soon as possible.”

Hunter Biden has been a target of Republican ire for years, with the animosity intensifying after his father pardoned his gun and tax crime convictions shortly before leaving office in January.

On Monday, Trump declared that the pardon and others issued by Biden were void, an unprecedented move with unclear legal founding.

Trump revokes security details for Biden’s children

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Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, deports over 200 gang members

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U.S President Donald Trump

Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, deports over 200 gang members

US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, accusing Tren de Aragua of “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion of predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”

He announced that members of the gang will be deported for engaging in “irregular warfare” against the United States. The Alien Enemies Act was last used during WWII to imprison Japanese-American civilians.

On Saturday evening, US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, DC, issued a 14-day freeze to deportations covered by Trump’s proclamation, pending more legal arguments.

After lawyers informed him that planes carrying deportees had already taken off, Judge Boasberg issued a verbal order for the planes to return, according to US media, though this command was not included in his written ruling.

According to Reuters, the written notice was filed in the court docket at 19:25 EDT on Saturday (00:25 GMT on Sunday), but it is unknown when the flights carrying the alleged gang members left the United States.

In a court filing on Sunday, Department of Justice lawyers stated that the order did not apply since the deportees “had already been removed from United States territory”.

The Justice Department has appealed the judge’s decision.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which was participating in the case against the Trump administration, stated that the court order may have been breached.

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The case presents constitutional issues because, under the US system of checks and balances, government entities are expected to follow a federal judge’s decision.

Venezuela denounced Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, claiming it “unjustly criminalises Venezuelan migration” and “evokes the darkest episodes in the history of humanity, from slavery to the horror of Nazi concentration camps.”

Rights organisations blasted Trump, accusing him of utilising a 227-year-old legislation to sidestep due process.

Amnesty International USA commented on X that the deportations were “yet another example of the Trump administration’s racist targeting” of Venezuelans “based on sweeping claims of gang affiliation”.

Bukele, a Trump ally, stated that the detainees were promptly taken to El Salvador’s renowned mega-jail, the Terrorism Confinement Centre (Cecot).

The Salvadoran president stated that they will be imprisoned there “for a period of one year,” which might be “renewable.”

El Salvador’s Cecot jail is part of Bukele’s efforts to combat organised crime in the country.

Human rights groups have accused the newly built maximum-security institution, which can accommodate up to 40,000 people, of mistreating inmates.

The agreement between the United States and El Salvador is an indication of improved diplomatic relations.

El Salvador was the second country Rubio visited as the US’s top diplomat.

During that trip in February, Bukele made an initial offer to accept US deportees, claiming it would help finance the enormous Cecot facility.

The newest deportations during Trump’s second term are part of the president’s long-standing campaign against illegal immigration in the United States.

In January, Trump signed an executive order designating Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as foreign terrorist organisations.

He won over voters during the campaign, in part, by threatening to carry out the greatest deportation operation in US history.

While illegal border crossings have dropped to their lowest levels in decades since Trump took office, the Republican president has allegedly been upset by the slow pace of deportations thus far.

Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, deports over 200 gang members

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Peace deal must bar Ukraine from Nato, Russian official says

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Russian strikes destroyed a residential building and injured at least six people in Kostiantynivka in the eastern province of Donetsk Oblast on 13 March

Peace deal must bar Ukraine from Nato, Russian official says

Russia will seek guarantees that Nato will exclude Ukraine from membership and that Ukraine will remain neutral in any peace deal, a Russian deputy foreign minister said.

“We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Alexander Grushko told Russian media outlet Izvestia.

“Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of Nato countries to accept it into the alliance,” he said.

It comes as US President Donald Trump has said he will speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as talks continue over a possible ceasefire in the three-year war in Ukraine.

Speaking on Air Force One on Sunday evening, Trump said: “A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end.”

“We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” Trump said when asked about concessions.

Trump added that he was already discussing “dividing up certain assets” between Russia and Ukraine.

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The US and Ukraine have agreed to propose a 30-day ceasefire to Russia.

While Putin said that he supported a ceasefire, he also set out a list of tough conditions for achieving peace.

One of the areas of contention is Russia’s western Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a military incursion last August and captured some territory.

Putin has claimed Russia is fully back in control of Kursk, and said Ukrainian troops there “have been isolated”.

He has also raised numerous questions about how a ceasefire could be monitored and policed along the frontline in the east.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Putin of trying to “sabotage” diplomatic efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire.

US envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin on Thursday in Moscow, earlier declined to answer a question on how Russian-occupied land in Ukraine could be addressed in a potential deal, during an interview with CNN. Russia currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine.

During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022, on “day one” of a new administration.

Less than a month after he was inaugurated, Trump had call with Putin that reportedly spanned 90 minutes about immediately starting negotiations on ending the war.

 

Peace deal must bar Ukraine from Nato, Russian official says

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