DrRussian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un want to develop relations between their two countries. North Korean state media reported Monday, in a letter to Kim on the day Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule (1910 to 1945), that Putin wrote that both sides share a tradition of bilateral friendship and cooperation.
Putin was quoted as saying that it is in the interest of the peoples of the two countries to develop relations. It will also help „strengthen security and stability on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the Northeast Asian region.”
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, largely isolated North Korea pledged its political support for Putin’s path. In July, for example, the leadership in Pyongyang, after Russia and Syria, recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, separated from Kyiv, as independent states. As a result, Ukraine severed diplomatic relations with North Korea.
According to reports from North Korea, Kim also sent a salute to Putin. In the letter, Kim, for his part, expressed his belief that friendly relations „are consolidating in all areas.” The basis for this is the agreements that the two countries reached at their summit in April 2019 in the Russian city of Vladivostok.
All developments in the live broadcast tape:
6:26 a.m. – Zelensky appeals to the Russians – those who remain silent support the war
Ukrainian President Zelensky called on the Russians to protest the war. „Evil is occurring on such a scale that silence amounts to complicity,” he said in his video address on Sunday. „If you have Russian citizenship and you remain silent, it means that you are not fighting, which means that you support it,” Zelensky said. Contrary to previous appeals addressed to the inhabitants of the belligerent neighboring country, the president addressed them not in Russian, but in Ukrainian.
According to opinion polls, the majority of Russians support the course of President Vladimir Putin. However, the validity is uncertain. The Russian power apparatus severely punishes outspoken criticism of the war.
02:35 a.m. – Russian army advances into Donbass
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russian army has won on the ground near the small town of Pakhmot in Donbass, which has been under attack for days. Report the situation in Kyiv spoke of the „partial success” of the Russians. Attacks were repulsed in other places, such as Pisky outside Donetsk. With strong positions near Pesci, the Ukrainian army has prevented pro-Russian separatists from repairing and using the city’s devastated airport militarily since 2014.
1:00 am – 42 countries demand the withdrawal of Russian troops from nuclear power plants
In the dispute over the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, Ukraine can count on the broad support of Western countries. 42 countries and the European Union issued a statement in Vienna calling for the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from the power plant and the return of control to Ukraine. Artillery shells fell again in the town of Enerhodar, adjacent to the nuclear power plant. For weeks, Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of bombing Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, causing a nuclear disaster.
„The concentration of the Russian army and weapons in the nuclear facility is unacceptable,” the Vienna statement on Zaporizhia said on Sunday. It is signed on behalf of the European Union and its member states, but also by countries such as the USA, Great Britain, Norway, Australia, Japan and New Zealand. Russia is violating the safety principles to which all member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency have adhered.
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