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

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine, as Vladimir Putin continues his state visit in Vietnam.

Mr Putin is due to meet Communist Party leader Nguyen PhuTrong, President To Lam and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

The Russian leader will also attend wreath-layingceremonies, including at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, housing theembalmed corpse of Vietnam's founding leader.

The visit began yesterday, in the same 24 hours that Mr Putin signed an agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledging mutual aid if either country faces "aggression".

In other developments over the past day:

• Russian drone attacks damaged energy infrastructure in central Ukraine andinjured at least two people in the western region of Lviv,Ukrainian authorities said;
  
• A man and a woman werekilled by Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk,the city's Russian-appointed mayor Alexei Kulemzin said;
  
• Russia has been attempting to replace "significant losses" by recruiting soldiers from African countries, the UK's defence ministry said;
  
• Germany held up the 14th package of EU sanctions on Russia, sources said.

That's the end of our coverage today, but we'll be back with more updates and analysis on the war in Ukraine soon.

If you're just checking in, here is a recap of the key developments today.

• Vladimir Putin made his first trip to North Korea in 24 years, where he and Kim Jong Un signed an agreement pledging mutual aid if either country faces "aggression";
  
• The Russian leader was then received in Vietnam, where he will be continue a state visit tomorrow;
• Russia has been attempting to replace "significant losses" by recruiting soldiers from African countries, the UK's defence ministry said;
  
• Germany held up the 14th package of EU sanctions on Russia, sources said.

Vladimir Putin has undertaken two state visits today, in North Korea and Vietnam, as he seeks to shore up support from his allies while the West pursues further sanctions.

In an opinion piece timed for his Vietnam visit, Vladimir Putin has applauded the country for supporting "apragmatic way to solve the crisis" in Ukraine.

Vietnam, which officially pursues a neutral foreign policy,has abstained from condemning Russia's invasion.

As well as praising Vietnam for its "balanced" stance onthe war, Mr Putin listed progress on payments, energy andtrade between the countries in the article published inVietnam's Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan.

"Putin's visit to North Korea and Vietnam is todemonstrate that Western attempts to isolate Russia are notworking and that Russia has partners in Asia," said Carl Thayer,an expert on Vietnam security at the Australian Defence ForceAcademy in Canberra.

The Southeast Asian country will be the third nation Mr Putinhas visited, after China and North Korea, since he was sworn infor a fifth term in May.

"No country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalise his atrocities," a spokesperson for the US embassy in Hanoi said this week.

Russia has historically been Vietnam's major military supplier, so any potential arms deals will be closely watched.

Vietnam has been gearing up for a full state welcome for the Russian leader's first visit since 2017 and his fifth in total.

Vladimir Putin has arrived in Vietnam, Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reports.

It is a state visit aimed at strengthening ties with a longtime partner of Moscow's.

In Hanoi, the Russian leader is scheduled to meet Vietnam's most powerful politician, Communist Party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, then the new president, To Lam, and other politicians.

The trip has resulted in a sharp rebuke from the US embassy in Hanoi.

It comes after Mr Putin's first trip to North Korea in 24 years, where he and Kim Jong Un signed an agreement pledging mutual aid if either country faces "aggression".

Germany is holding up the 14th package of EU sanctions on Russia, sources say.

Officials from the bloc's 27 countries have been debating the package for over a month, which would make EU operators responsible for sanctions violations by subsidiaries and partners.

Germany's hesitation was due in part to an internal disagreement between its foreign ministry and the chancellor's office, diplomats and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The roadblock remained despite the scrapping of a clause thatBerlin found problematic - one that would have forced subsidiaries to"contractually prohibit re-exportation to Russia andre-exportation for use in Russia".

The EU's sanctions efforts have been undermined by circumvention via third countries. The inclusionof this clause would have further tightened the bloc's measures.

Ambassadors will continue the debate tomorrow, they said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced two more signatures have been added to his Peace Summit communique.

He said the Organisation of American States, which represents countries in North and South America, and Antigua and Barbuda have signed it.

"We view the entire world as equals, and this is our ideological difference from Russia in international relations," the Ukrainian president said.

"Putin, however, wants only his voice to matter, or those he chooses. This is a typically colonial world view that we, together with all our partners, must break."

He said the format of the Peace Summit will ensure "fair treatment for every nation", including, of course, Ukraine.

Nearly 80 countries have already approved the final communique covering steps toward nuclear safety, food security, and the release of prisoners and deportees, including thousands of children abducted by Russia.

One person has been killed and three others have been injured in a Russian shelling attack in Donetsk, Ukraine's police force has said.

In a post on Telegram, it said there had been 2,291 strikes in the eastern region in the last 24 hours.

Russia used "aviation, rocket salvo systems and artillery", it added.

Over the past few months, fighting has been surging across the frontline in the eastern Donetsk region.

Russian forces have been trying to reach the key hilltop city of Chasiv Yar and other strategic hubs in the region.

Russian troops also launched an offensive in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region.

Mr Putin said he wanted to establish a buffer zone there to prevent Ukrainian cross-border attacks.

The offensive drew some Ukrainian fighters away from Donetsk, but many remain.

Reuters captured these photos of Ukraine troops operating in the area.

Russia has been attempting to replace "significant losses" by recruiting soldiers from African countries, the UK's defence ministry has said.

Ukrainian intelligence has been reporting increased Russian efforts to recruit from several African countries in recent days.

"This recruitment campaign is likely an attempt to replace significant battlefield losses and sustain offensive activity across the front," the MoD said.

"Russia is likely expanding its recruitment across the global south to avoid additional mobilisations within Russian itself."

It added that previous mobilisations within Russia had resulted in a record labour shortage and the mass departure of skilled workers.