Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that North Korea had reaffirmed full support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine during talks in the coastal city of Wonsan, underscoring an alliance that South Korea believes may soon send even more Pyongyang troops to the front.
North Korea “confirmed its firm support for all the objectives of the special military operation,” Lavrov told reporters after meeting his counterpart Choe Son Hui, according to Russia’s TASS news agency. The ministers signed documents deepening a strategic partnership that already includes a mutual-defence pact agreed last month.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service estimates that more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers are already fighting alongside Russian forces and says additional units could deploy in July or August. Pyongyang has also pledged 6,000 military engineers and builders to rebuild infrastructure in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops staged a large cross-border incursion nearly a year ago.
Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said the accord “meets the changing needs over recent decades and strengthens traditionally friendly, good-neighbourly Russian–Korean relations to a qualitatively new level as allies.” He added that further high-level delegations would visit North Korea later this year.
Lavrov arrived in Wonsan on Friday from Kuala Lumpur, where he attended an ASEAN foreign-ministers’ meeting, and is due in China on Monday for a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. Russian media said the newly opened Wonsan seaside resort, the resumption of direct Moscow–Pyongyang trains and a planned bridge over the Tumen River could boost Russian tourism to North Korea.
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The collective-defence agreement between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signals that regional powers no longer want to rely solely on external security guarantees. Whether it becomes a stabilising deterrent or another axis of rivalry remains unresolved.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 19th of August, covering the latest developments.
Australia on Thursday condemned Israel’s decision to close its criminal investigation into the deaths of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six World Central Kitchen colleagues killed in Gaza in April 2024.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
North Korea has fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles after U.S. President Donald Trump reduced American participation in joint military exercises with South Korea in an effort to revive dialogue with Pyongyang.
Georgia’s foreign trade data for January-July 2026 shows Kyrgyzstan, China and Russia as its top three export markets, highlighting its Middle Corridor ambitions and complex economic ties with Moscow.
Kazakhstan will vote on 23 August in its first parliamentary election under the new Constitution, choosing 145 members of the new Kurultai under a fundamentally changed electoral system based entirely on party lists.
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