Ukraine war latest: Putin and Kim sign new defence deal - as UK says 'bizarre scenes' should be warning (2024)

Kim Jong Un has described the strategic agreement pact between North Korea and Russia as "peaceful and defensive".

Mr Kim has spent today hosting Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang where the two engaged in length talks.

The Russian president said world affairs and the global agenda dominated the pair's conversation.

Mr Kim described his Russian counterpart as "the dearest friend of the Korean people", saying that "at this moment, when the whole world is paying close attention to Pyongyang, where the friendship mission from Russia has arrived, I stand with Russian comrades – our most honest friends and comrades".

Earlier, North Korea rolled out the red carpet for Mr Putin upon his arrival, with a welcome ceremony held in Pyongyang before the two leaders exchanged lavish gifts (see 09:41am post).

Mr Putin later laid a wreath at a monument to soldiers of the Soviet Union who died liberating the Korea peninsula form Japanese occupation.

A former CIA analyst has branded Vladimir Putin's trip to North Korea as "pretty pathetic".

The Russian president has had the red carpet treatment in Pyongyang as he holds talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

One of the key outcomes of the trip is a new agreement signed between the two nations that vows to protect each other in the event of invasion.

For Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst who is now a director at the Wilson Center thinktank, Mr Putin's visit to Pyongyang highlights how two "pariah states" are cementing their ties despite their isolation from the international community.

"I think it is pretty pathetic that Putin has to resort to relying on [the] 198th-ranked economy in the world to help his war effort," she told BBC News.

"It's all around bad news for the rest of the world."

By Nicole Johnston, Asia correspondent, in Beijing

Anytime Vladimir Putin leaves Russia it is significant because he rarely gets out. But this trip - visiting the secretive and closed off country of North Korea for the first time in 24 years - underscores just how important the relationship between these countries has become.

Russia and North Korea have signed a strategic partnership to upgrade their relationship. While it's light on detail this deal will be closely watched in Asia, especially here in China.

China shares a long border with North Korea - it's been the hermit kingdom's main supporter and is responsible for 90% of North Korea's trade.

Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, also has a strong relationship with Russia, buying its oil and gas andsending so-called "dual use" machinery and semi-conductors to Russia, which the West says Russia uses in its war in Ukraine.

China does not want to see Russia muscling in on its traditional area of influence in North Korea.

Just yesterday, senior officials from China and South Korea held talks in Seoul, where China said maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula is in the common interest of all parties.

Mr Xi does agree with Russia and North Korea on one point, however - that there should be a new world order, a "multipolar" world, rather than the US-dominated international system.

The problem is, China wants to be at the centre of this alternative order and seen as a responsible global leader. It risks reputational damage if the multipolar bloc appears to be largely comprised of countries the West regards as pariah states, such as Russia, North Korea and Iran.

South Korea is also anxious about Mr Putin's trip to Pyongyang.

It could embolden Mr Kim to have a strongman by his side at a time when tension on the Korean Peninsula is high. Both North and South Korea have stepped up their campaigns of cross border harassment in recent weeks.

Mr Putin next heads to Vietnam, which has a different set of issues. Vietnam is emblematic of a Southeast Asian country trying to stay close to the US, Russia and China. It doesn't want to be forced to make a choice.

But in this fractured international environment, divided between the West and developing countries of the "Global South", Vietnam and its neighbour may find that eventually they will have to pick a side.

The North has been sending balloons with rubbish across the border, and activists in the south have sent balloons with propaganda leaflets.

It benefits both sides. The US says Russia receives shipments of artillery shells and ballistic missiles from North Korea. Mr Putin and Mr Kim deny this.

In return, Russia sends North Korea food, fuel and technology.

Watch: North Korea's rubbish balloons explained

Drone attacks by Russia have damaged energy infrastructure in central Ukraine andinjured at least two people in the western region of Lviv,the authorities have said.

Emergency services were sent to the sites of theattacks and repairs to damaged electrical equipment in Lviv are under way, Ukraine's energy ministry said on Telegram.

Russian forces launched five drones at Lviv, injuring two men, who were hit by debris, according to regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi.

It was part of a wider drone attack launched by Russia last night (see 9.10am post).

The attack in the village of Malekhiv in the Lviv citydistrict damaged a block of flats, as well as scores of windows in other residential buildings, mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote on Telegram.

The attack also damaged a veterinary drugs researchinstitute, Mr Sadovyi said.

Sky News could not independently verify the reports.

Russia and North Korea have signed a new agreement, vowing to help each other in case of invasionas both face escalating stand-offs with the West.

"The comprehensive partnership agreement signed today provides, among other things, mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement," Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying by state news agency TASS.

Mr Kim called Russia "the most honest friend and ally" and referred to Mr Putin "the dearest friend of the Korean people", according to a report by state agency RIA.

The agreement, which replaces previous treaties between the countries from 1961 and 2000-2001, includes a mutual defence clause under which each country agrees to help the other in case of attack.

Yuri Ushakov, a Russian presidential assistant, said the pact was needed because of "the deep evolution of the geopolitical situation in the world and the region".

The UK must strengthen its armed forces to deter the "new axis of tyranny" in the world, the UK defence secretary has said.

Grant Shapps shared a video on X of what he called North Korea's "bizarre" welcome ceremony for Vladimir Putin, which included a military orchestra, artillery guns firing a welcome salvo and a red carpet for the two leaders to walk down.

The Russian president is in Pyongyang for talks with leader Kim Jong Un.

VladimirPutin and Kim Jong Un have exchanged gifts on the Russian president's visit to North Korea.

Mr Putin reportedly gave his host a Russian-built limousine, a tea set and an admiral's dirk, a type of dagger.

In return, Mr Putin was given various works of art depicting himself, including busts, according to Russia's state news agency TASS.

The Aurus Senat limousine began production in 2018 after Mr Putin personally tasked his country with having its own take on a luxury car.

According to the firm's website, the limousine is the "first luxury car from Russia", and represents the "renaissance of Russia’s industrial, scientific and technological potential".

It's fully armoured - not surprising given Mr Putin uses one - and uses a 4.4-litre twin-turbo hybrid V8 engine.

Ukraine's air force has said it shot down 19 of 21 attack drones that Russia launched at the country overnight.

The Shahed drones were reportedly intercepted over southern Ukraine's Kherson and Mykolaiv, Dnipro and Kirovohrad, in central Ukraine, and Lviv and Khmelnytskyi, to the west of the country.

In Lviv, a 70-year-old man was hospitalised as a result of falling drone debris.

What are Shahed drones?

Iranian in origin, Shahed drones are single-use, long-range attack drones.

Designed to "loiter" around a specified area, the drones have a built-in warhead that will stay around an area until an operator, often on the ground, picks a target to detonate.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned their use in April after Iran used the drones on Israel.

A Russian court has sentenced a US soldier to three years and nine months in a penal colony for theft and threatening to kill his girlfriend.

Staff Sgt Gordon Black, 34, was arrested in May and had pleaded not guilty to the murder threat charges but admitted he was "partially" guilty of stealing 10,000 roubles (£89) from his girlfriend Alexandra Vashchuk.

Prosecutors at a court in Vladivostok said that during an argument at Ms Vashchuk'sapartment, Sgt Black had grabbed her by the neck and then took her money.

Sgt Black argued that Ms Vashchuk had drunk half a bottle of vodka that day, was aggressive and had struck him.

Prosecutors had asked for a prison sentence of four years and eight months, while the defence asked for Sgt Black to be acquitted of all charges.

He will appeal the verdict, according to Russian state news agencies.

Sgt Black met Ms Vashchuk in South Korea, where he was stationed. He then travelled to Russia and China without authorisation, which the Pentagon said broke army rules.

He served in Iraq in 2009 and Afghanistan in 2013 and was most recently assigned to the Eighth Army, US Forces Korea at Camp Humphreys.

Firefighters are still tackling a blaze in the Russian town of Azov following drone strikes yesterday morning.

A Ukrainian intelligence source said the strikes were conducted by the security service of Ukraine and targeted an oil depot in Azov, situated in the southern region of Rostov.

Several oil storage tanks were engulfed in fire which is still raging today.

"The fire at the Azov district has been localized at the3,200 square metres at 5:30am (2am GMT)," local emergency services said on Telegram today.

Kyiv has often said that targeting Russia's energy, militaryand transport infrastructure undermines Moscow's militaryeffort.