Kim Jong-un arrives in Russia for expected meeting on potential arms deal with Vladimir Putin; some Ukrainian pilots could be trained on F-16s by year-end
Kim Jong-un arrived in Russia on his armoured train for a rare summit with Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible deal to supply North Korean arms for the war in Ukraine. It had been thought the North Korean leader would meet the Russian president in Vladivostok but the exact date and location of the meeting remained unclear as of late Tuesday.
The US could have the first Ukrainian pilots trained on F-16 fighter jets before the end of the year, though it will be longer than that before they are flying combat missions, the director of the US Air National Guard said. Ukrainian pilots are expected to arrive for training in Arizona by October and depending on their proficiency in English and previous flying experience could complete the training in three months.
Nato member Romania said it had begun building air raid shelters for residents near the Ukraine border, after drone fragments were found there last week. Approximately 50 Romanian soldiers began building two shelters in the Plauru area on Tuesday, the defence ministry said in a statement.
Poland said it would extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports unilaterally, even if the current EU restrictions expire on Friday. In June, the EU agreed to restrict imports of grain from Ukraine to five member states, including Poland, seeking to protect their farmers who blamed those imports for the slump in prices on local markets.
Russian president Vladimir Putin directly addressed the war in Ukraine during a Q&A session at the eastern economic forum in Vladivostok. He said that the Ukrainian counter-offensive had not made any progress and accused British secret services of being involved in the training of Ukrainian saboteurs to launch attacks on Russian infrastructure.
Putin also appeared to rule out any further conscription or mobilisation to help the war effort, claiming that 1,000-1,500 Russians were signing voluntary contracts to join the military every day. The UK’s Ministry of Defence said in its daily intelligence briefing on Monday that Russia would probably seek to avoid a forced mobilisation before next year’s presidential elections, due to be held in March.
Foreign ministers from the G7 group of major industrialised countries condemned the staging of what they called “sham elections” by Russia in occupied Ukrainian territories. “These sham ‘elections’ will not alter our approach nor our support to Ukraine as it fights to reclaim its internationally-recognized territory,” they said.
Denmark will give Ukraine a further 5.8 billion kroner ($833m), mainly to finance air defences, ammunition and tanks, the defence ministry said. “For Ukraine to be able to continue defending itself against Russia’s illegal invasion, it is essential that countries like Denmark maintain their military and economic support,” defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said.
A Russian warplane crashed during a training mission in southern Russia, the military said, without specifying what happened to its crew of two or what caused the crash. The defence ministry said that the Su-24 bomber went down in an unpopulated area in the Volgograd region.
The Swedish government is considering donating Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine to help repel Russian forces, Swedish public radio (SR) reported. The government may formally ask the armed forces as early as Thursday to officially consider the issue, according to the report.
