Politics USA: North Korea's troops in Russia - billions for Ukraine
In view of new findings, there are growing international concerns about the possible involvement of North Korean soldiers in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
24.10.2024, 05:24
SDA
According to the US government, it has reliable information that North Korean troops are in Russia. "What exactly are they doing there? That remains to be seen," said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the fringes of a visit to Rome. "If they intend to participate in this war on behalf of Russia, that's a very, very serious problem." Meanwhile, the G7 states want to provide billions in financial aid for Ukraine. This is to be paid for indirectly by Russia, which is therefore furious.
North Korean soldiers a "sign of Russia's weakness"?
Austin said that the Russian military had suffered considerable losses in the Ukraine war so far. With regard to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he added that the cooperation with North Korean soldiers was an indication "that he may be in even more trouble than most people think". Russia had rejected the reports that had been circulating for days in Ukraine and South Korea about the deployment of soldiers against Ukraine.
The communications director of the National Security Council, John Kirby, said that the USA assumed "that North Korea had deployed at least 3,000 soldiers to eastern Russia between the beginning and middle of October". According to the findings, they had traveled to Russia by ship and were now housed in several Russian military training centers in eastern Russia, where they were currently being trained. "We do not yet know whether these soldiers will go into battle alongside the Russian military." However, it is very likely.
The Federal Foreign Office in Berlin had clear words for this case: "Support for the Russian war of aggression by North Korea also poses a direct threat to Germany's security and the European peace order."
"Should North Korean soldiers actually intervene in the battle, this development would show Russia's growing desperation in its war against Ukraine," said Kirby. "Russia is suffering huge casualties on the battlefield every day, but President Putin seems determined to continue this war." Cooperation with North Korea's soldiers is "a sign of the Kremlin's weakness, not strength".
Selensky thanks G7 states for fresh billions
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been sounding the alarm for days about the danger of an escalation in the war due to North Korea's intervention. But now he has received the news he has been waiting for from the USA: billions in new financial aid from the G7.
Selensky thanked the Western allies. The 50 billion US dollars (around 46 billion euros) from the G7 will help Ukraine with its defense and resilience, as he said in his evening video message broadcast in Kiev. He was wearing a T-shirt with the inscription "make russia small again". The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, posted a photo of this on Telegram and called Zelensky a "complete idiot".
Zelensky emphasized that the money had to flow this year in order to help Ukraine in its almost 1,000-day defense battle against the Russian invaders. The group of seven major economic nations includes the USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain and Japan. The USA alone is providing 20 billion US dollars, the EU states another 20 billion and the UK, Canada and Japan 10 billion.
USA: Russia to bear costs for "illegal war"
Russia is to pay for this indirectly. The loan is secured by interest income from frozen Russian state assets. This is part of a package agreed by the G7 states and representatives of the European Union at a summit in June. Russia has described the freezing of its assets abroad and the siphoning off of interest income as robbery that "will not go unpunished".
Shortly after the breakthrough in negotiations with the USA, the Council of the European Union approved the plans for the new billion-euro loans. The adopted legal texts stipulate in particular that interest income from assets of the Russian central bank frozen in the EU should be used to repay the loans.
Biden: "Tyrants" will be held responsible
Commenting on the new billions, US President Joe Biden said that this would enable Ukraine to receive the help it needs now - without burdening taxpayers. The message is: "Tyrants are held responsible for the damage they cause." US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had stated that the G7 states had committed to making the loan available to Ukraine by the end of the year. German Finance Minister Lindner called the agreement "a signal to Putin" that there could be no return to business as usual for him.
As a result of the sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU, around 210 billion euros in assets of the Russian central bank have been frozen since February 2022. The extraordinary interest income from this is currently estimated at up to 2.5 to 3 billion euros per year. The majority of these assets are located in the EU.
Fighting continues in Ukraine
According to the Ukrainian Red Cross, an office of the aid organization was destroyed in a Russian attack in eastern Ukraine. It was located in a cultural center in the city of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region, according to the Red Cross. None of the staff or volunteers were injured.
Meanwhile, Russia claims to have fired a missile over the port city of Sevastopol on the Black Sea. The Russian news agency Tass quoted the governor of the city as saying, citing the rescue service, that no civilian objects were damaged.
The information could not be independently verified.
Putin wants to answer questions from journalists
At the end of the Brics summit of emerging industrial nations this Thursday in the Russian city of Kazan, Kremlin leader Putin also wants to answer questions from the media and is likely to once again comment on his war against Ukraine.
