Live blog: N Korea delivers arms to Russia for use in Ukraine — US

Friday, October 13, 2023

1652 GMT — North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia in recent weeks for use in Ukraine, the White House said.

"We condemn (North Korea) for providing Russia with this military equipment," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

"We will continue to monitor for any additional (North Korean) arms shipments to Russia."

Kirby said that the US believes Kim is seeking sophisticated Russian weapons technologies in return for the munitions to boost North Korea's nuclear program.

The shipments began in early September and arrived in the Russian city of Tikhoretsk October 1, according to information distributed by the Biden administration.

More updates👇

1529 GMT — Netherlands to deliver more Patriot missiles to Ukraine

The Netherlands will deliver more Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against Russian air strikes during the winter, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

"This winter, Russia will try to hurt Ukraine as much as possible. So the Netherlands will supply extra Patriot missiles, so that Ukraine can defend itself against Russia's barbaric air strikes," Rutte said following a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Odessa, Ukraine.

Rutte said the Netherlands would also help Ukraine acquire patrol boats to help keep the shipping route for grain exports safe.

1304 GMT — ‘We are working on creating new formats of cooperation in Black Sea': Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that they are working on creating new formats of cooperation in the Black Sea region.

“Currently, we are working on creating new formats of cooperation and strengthening the existing ones in our region – the Black Sea region,” Zelenskyy said in an online address to a meeting of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in Sweden.

In this regard, Zelenskyy underlined his recent visit to the Romanian capital Bucharest, where he and his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis agreed on raising bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership.

Zelenskyy said they are working “effectively” in a trilateral format, which also includes neighboring Moldova, particularly in terms of logistical cooperation for the export of food produced in Ukraine.

1254 GMT — EU hopes to advance talks on using Russian assets for Ukraine

European Union leaders meeting later in October will demand "decisive progress" on using Russian assets frozen by sanctions to help Ukraine, according to their draft statement, addressing a matter that has been stuck for months.

The United States and Britain last month signalled support for an EU plan to tax windfall profits generated by frozen Russian sovereign assets to finance Ukraine as Kiev battles a full-scale Russian offensive that started in February 2022.

Finance ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised countries meeting in Morocco on Thursday estimated $280 billion worth of such assets had been frozen, and expected more work in the coming months to find legally sound ways of using them to aid Ukraine.

EU members Germany and France are part of the G7 club, where the EU executive European Commission is also represented.

1110 GMT — EU's Borrell says he asked China to influence Russia to stop Ukraine war

The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said he asked China to use its influence on Russia to stop its war in Ukraine and to renew the Black Sea grain deal.

In a press conference following talks with China's foreign minister Wang Yi in Beijing, Borrell said that until now, there had not been any kind of direct military support to Russia from China.

1044 GMT — Latvia says Russia trying to disrupt border with Ukraine passport ruling

Latvia has said it would close one of its border crossings with Russia next week, after accusing Moscow of trying to create chaos there by funnelling Ukrainian passport holders through the small rural checkpoint.

Latvia's foreign ministry said Russia had issued an order on Thursday saying people with Ukrainian passports could only enter Russian territory through Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport or Latvia's Ventuli crossing point from next week.

The remote outpost of Vientuli - which means "lonely" in Latvian - was too small to cope with such traffic, the government in Riga said late on Thursday.

Diverting all Ukrainians there, would "present tensions on (European Union) border" and "significantly affect public order and pose a threat to national security," the government added in its statement.

Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins said Russia was trying to create problems on the frontier.

1040 GMT — Ukraine invited to observe defence alliance JEF exercises

The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) defence cooperation between the Nordic and Baltic states, the Netherlands and Great Britain has invited Ukraine to observe its exercises, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.

"Ukraine has been offered observer status for all JEF's exercises during 2024 and 2025, in order to strengthen their capacity and include their experiences," Kristersson told a press conference at a JEF summit on the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea.

1038 GMT — IMF text snagged on Ukraine/Russia wording: European official

No final communique is expected to be released at the end of the International Monetary Fund's meetings in Marrakech this week because of a disagreement on how to refer to Russia's war in Ukraine, a European official has said.

The official, who was present at the talks in Marrakech, said Nordic, European and Baltic nations were blocking agreement because they considered the wording - a reproduction of language approved by a G20 summit last month - was "too watered down".

Instead, the communique will be replaced on Saturday by a simple "chairman's statement" summing up what took place at the meetings, leaving any disagreements open.

1024 GMT — Putin says Russian grain exports to remain high

President Vladimir Putin has said Russia would continue to export large quantities of grain next year despite Western sanctions triggered by Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.

"Last year, as you know, there was a historically record harvest of 158 million tonnes (of cereals). This year it will also be very big with over 130 millions," Putin said.

"Russia is likely to retain the first place in the world in wheat exports. Our grain exports will also be the same as last year with not less than 50-60 million tonnes," he continued.

Putin was taking part in a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an organisation gathering some post-Soviet states.

0945 GMT — Russia pummels east Ukrainian town in heavy fighting

Russian forces have pummelled the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka from the ground and air, the fourth day of intense fighting in the biggest offensive by Russian forces in months.

Ukraine said its forces were holding their ground but Vitaliy Barabash, the head of Avdiivka's military administration, said the town was under constant attack from air, artillery and large numbers of troops.

"The battles have been going on for four days now. Fierce and really non-stop ... They are firing from everything they have available," Barabash said in televised comments.

"It was a very hot night in Avdiivka. There were several air strikes on the city itself ... the attacks do not stop day or night."

The attack on Avdiivka is one of the few big assaults Russia has mounted since Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive in early June to try to drive out Russian troops controlling large swathes of territory in the east and south.

0851 GMT — One killed, 13 hurt in Russian strike on Ukraine's Pokrovsk: Kiev

One person has been killed and 13 wounded in a Russian attack on the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said.

The emergency services said in a statement that two administrative buildings had been damaged as a result of the attack and three people had been rescued from under rubble.

According to preliminary information, Russia attacked the city with two Iskander-M missiles, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said.

0638 GMT — Russia will never be seen as reliable energy supplier: US energy official

US Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt has said Russia would never again be viewed as a reliable energy supplier, a day after Washington imposed fresh sanctions on Moscow because of its war in Ukraine.

Speaking at an online briefing ahead of next week's US-Japan Energy Security Dialogue, Pyatt also said the United States and its partners in the Group of 7 were committed to denying Russia any energy revenues.

The United States on Thursday imposed the first sanctions on owners of tankers carrying Russian oil priced above the G7's price cap of $60 a barrel, in an effort to close loopholes in the mechanism.

"It's very clear to me that Russia is never again going to be viewed as a reliable energy supplier," Pyatt told reporters.

0341 GMT — US displays drones from Ukraine it says Iran made

US military officials have displayed what they said were pieces of Iranian drones recovered in Ukraine to UN member states — evidence, according to the Pentagon, of growing ties between Iran and Russia.

The US mission to the UN said representatives from more than 40 countries attended the event, where Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officials said the debris included parts of Iranian Shahed 101, Shahed 131 and Shahed 136 drones found in Ukraine.

"These are not replicas. These are the real thing," US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at the event, according to her office. "These are the weapons of war that Iran has transferred to malign actors."

She added: "Iranian officials have made no secret of their ambition to expand the sale of these attack drones. And now, they are in Russian hands, being used against civilians in Europe."

Tehran has denied Western accusations that it is supplying Russia with large quantities of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), some armed, to use during the war in Ukraine.

2000 GMT — Digitalisation of supply accounting for troops priority: Kiev

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the immediate digitalisation of the entire supply accounting for defence forces is a priority.

"Digitalisation will provide a clear understanding of how our warriors are being supplied and where deficits are occurring, and how they are being filled," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.

"This is crucial so that we can promptly show every one of our partners information about each unit of weaponry supplied."

The Ukrainian leader also said that it is crucial that the reports in Kiev match the facts that are on the frontlines.

For our live updates from Thursday (October 12), click here.