Poland’s President Andrzej Duda. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda is in China on a visit that brings the leader of a NATO member to a country that has backed Russia in its full-on invasion of Ukraine.

“I am trying to maintain friendly relations with China, Poland has always had decent relations with China and I would like that to be continued,” Mr. Duda said in an interview on private Radio Zet on June 21.

He was scheduled to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on June 24 and has said peace in Ukraine will be discussed.

Asked if he believes that China is holding a key to peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Mr. Duda said: “I think that to a large degree, yes.” While China says it is neutral in the fighting, it has blamed NATO’s expansion for provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin into launching the invasion and has maintained robust trade and diplomatic relations with Moscow. Poland borders Ukraine and has provided refuge for those fleeing the fighting and maintained a hard line against further expansion of Russian aggression.

Mr. Duda said he will also talk to Mr. Xi about Belarus exerting migration pressure on the border with Poland, as a form of hybrid war that also includes cyberattacks. Mr. Duda will also seek a visa waiver for Poles traveling to China and will seek possibilities of increasing Poland’s exports there, to balance their trade relations.

State Statistics Poland said 13.9% of the nation’s imports last year were from China, while Polish exports to China were just a fraction of that amount. Some trade agreements are to be signed during the visit.

On Wednesday, Mr. Duda will fly to the financial hub of Shanghai to attend a Poland-China economic forum.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to North Korea on June 18 for a “friendly” visit, the Kremlin announced, as the West suspects Pyongyang of supplying Moscow with weapons for its Ukraine offensive.

The visit to the world’s most reclusive state comes as Mr. Putin seeks ammunition to continue his military campaign launched in February 2022, which has thrown Moscow into unprecedented global isolation.

It also comes nine months after Mr. Putin hosted North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on a rare foreign trip to the Russian Far East, where the pair lavished each other with praise.

“President Vladimir Putin on June 18-19 will go to the North Korean Democratic Republic on a friendly state visit,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

Moscow said Mr. Putin will then travel to Vietnam.

Western countries, South Korea and Kyiv have accused Pyongyang of sending weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine, in violation of UN sanctions on North Korea.

Washington and Seoul say Russia has in return provided Pyongyang with technical help for its satellite program and sent aid to the food-strapped state.

Mr. Putin has scaled down trips abroad since launching the Ukraine offensive, but has paid some high-profile visits to Moscow’s few key allies such as China.

Pyongyang rarely hosts foreign guests, isolated diplomatically and having shut itself off even more since the COVID pandemic.

Russia and North Korea, which share a small land border, have historic links since the Soviet Union helped found the tiny state after the Korean War in the 1950s.

Since the fall of the USSR, Russia was one of the few countries to have working relations with Pyongyang.

‘Comrades-in-arms’

It will be Mr. Putin’s second visit to the country in his time in power, after a trip 24 years ago, shortly after becoming president, to meet Kim Jung Un’s father Kim Jong Il.

Back then, Mr. Putin was a frequent traveller, regularly touring the United States and Europe.

Now Russia finds itself under heavy international sanctions and the Kremlin leader is a persona non grata in most of the Western world, officially wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Mr. Kim said last week that ties with Russia had “developed into an unbreakable relationship of comrades-in-arms”.

When the leaders saw each other in September, Mr. Putin said he saw “possibilities” for military cooperation with North Korea, while Kim wished the Kremlin chief “victory” in Ukraine.

They symbolically gifted each other rifles and the Kremlin promised that Putin would visit in turn.

A string of Russian officials, including Moscow’s spy chief, have since visited North Korea in preparation for the visit.

In March, Russia also used its UN Security Council veto to effectively end UN monitoring of North Korean sanctions violations, a move seen as a victory for Pyongyang.

Both Russia and North Korea have denied that Pyongyang’s weapons are being used in Ukraine.

Mr. Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jon, accused Seoul and Washington last month of “misleading public opinion” on the issue.

North Korean shells

Ukraine, however, has reported finding North Korean shells on the battlefield.

In May, South Korea said its northern rival fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles, with some experts saying they could be tests for weapons destined for use against Ukraine.

As the Kremlin and Pyongyang have publicly deepened their ties, Moscow’s relationship with South Korea — a Ukraine backer — has been hugely strained.

Seoul is a major weapons exporter to Kyiv. Its President Yoon Suk Yeol last month promised to maintain its support in a phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

South Korea last month announced separate sanctions on Russian and North Korean individuals and companies allegedly trading military supplies.

For its part, Russia earlier this year detained a South Korean man, Baek Won-soon, on spy charges. He is believed to be the first South Korean detained on espionage charges in Russia for decades.

According to media reports, he may have been a missionary helping North Korean workers in Russia escape the country.

Vladimir Putin began his fifth term on May 7 as Russian leader at a glittering Kremlin inauguration, setting out on another six years in office after destroying his political opponents, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and concentrating all power in his hands.

Already in office for nearly a quarter-century and the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin, Putin’s new term doesn’t expire until 2030, when he will be constitutionally eligible to run again.

At the ceremony inside the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, Putin placed his hand on the Russian Constitution and vowed to defend it as a crowd of hand-picked dignitaries looked on.

Since succeeding President Boris Yeltsin in the waning hours of 1999, Putin has transformed Russia from a country emerging from economic collapse to a pariah state that threatens global security. Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has become Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, Russia has been heavily sanctioned by the West and is turning to other regimes like China, Iran and North Korea for support.

The question now is what the 71-year-old Putin will do over the course of another six years, both at home and abroad.

Significant dates in Vladimir Putin’s 24 years in power in Russia

Dec 31, 1999 – In a surprise address to the nation, Russian President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and makes Mr. Putin, the Prime Minister he appointed four months earlier, the acting President.

May 7, 2000 – After winning election with about 53% of the vote, Mr. Putin is inaugurated for his first four-year term.

May 11, 2000 – Tax police raid the offices of NTV, a popular independent broadcaster noted for critical coverage of the Kremlin. It is the first salvo in moves against prominent independent media that have characterized the Putin era.

Aug 12, 2000 – The submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea with 118 people aboard, setting off the first widespread criticism of Putin, who stayed on vacation early in the crisis and waited five days before accepting Western offers of help.

Oct 23, 2002 – Militants from Russia’s region of Chechnya take about 850 people hostage at a Moscow theater. Three days later, Russian special forces pump an unidentified gas into the theater to end the crisis, killing at least 130 hostages along with the militants. Putin defends the operation as having saved hundreds of lives.

Oct 25, 2003 – Oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is Russia’s richest man and seen as a potential challenger to Putin, is arrested and later sentenced to 10 years in prison for tax evasion and fraud. His oil company is dismantled, most of it acquired by state oil company Rosneft. He has since become an opposition figure in exile.

March 14, 2004 – Mr. Putin is elected to a second term as president.

Sept 1, 2004 – Islamic militants seize a school in the southern city of Beslan, and more than 300 people die in the chaotic explosions and shootout ending the siege two days later. Putin blames regional leaders’ incompetence and announces that governors will be appointed figures rather than elected.

April 25, 2005 – Putin alarms international observers by describing the collapse of the Soviet Union as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.”

Feb 10, 2007 – In a speech at a conference in Munich, Putin turns away radically from earlier attempts to develop closer ties with the United States.

May 8, 2008 – Barred by the constitution from running for a third consecutive term, Putin is appointed prime minister by new President Dmitry Medvedev but effectively remains Russia’s political leader.

Aug 8-12, 2008 – Russia fights a short war with Georgia, gaining full control of the separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.

March 4, 2012 – Putin is elected to a new presidential term, which is now six years long under constitutional changes he engineered. Protests by tens of thousands before the vote and on the eve of his inauguration lead to laws toughening penalties for unauthorised political protests.

June 6, 2013 – Putin announces on state television that he and his wife, Lyudmila, are divorcing.

Feb 7, 2014 – Putin opens the Winter Olympics in Sochi, a costly prestige project that he was instrumental in winning for Russia.

March 18, 2014 – Following the ouster of Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president amid protests in Kyiv, Moscow annexes Crimea after the Kremlin sends in troops wearing uniforms without insignia. A quick referendum is staged on the peninsula, splitting it from Ukraine. Putin admits a year later that he planned the annexation weeks ahead of time.

April 2014 – Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels begins in eastern Ukraine.

Feb 27, 2015 – Boris Nemtsov, a top figure of Russia’s beleaguered political opposition, is gunned down on a bridge next to the Kremlin. Nemtsov was working on a report about Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine.

Sept 30, 2015 – Russia begins airstrikes in Syria that Putin calls necessary to destroy terrorist groups. The action helps Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime ally, remain in power.

May 15, 2018 – Putin opens the 18-km (12-mile) bridge from Russia to Crimea, solidifying Moscow’s annexation. The bridge later becomes a target of attacks during the war with Ukraine.

July 16, 2018 – Putin and US President Donald Trump meet at a summit in Helsinki, where Trump is asked about allegations that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election that brought him to power. He dismissed the claims and said Putin was “extremely strong and powerful in his denial”.

July 1, 2020 – A referendum approves constitutional changes proposed by Putin, allowing him to run for two more terms starting in 2024.

Aug. 20, 2020 – Opposition leader Alexei Navalny falls severely ill while organizing political opposition to Putin in Siberia and is later flown to Germany, where he is diagnosed with nerve-agent poisoning. Navalny blames the Kremlin, which denies it.

Dec 22, 2020 – Putin signs a bill granting lifetime immunity to former presidents.

Jan 17, 2021 – Navalny is arrested at a Moscow airport upon returning from Germany. He is later convicted on several charges and sentenced to 19 years in prison.

July 2021 – Putin publishes an article declaring the “historical unity” of Russia and Ukraine, an ideological precursor to Moscow’s invasion.

Feb 24, 2022 – The invasion of Ukraine begins, and Putin characterises it as a “special military operation” needed for Russia’s security.

March 4, 2022 – Putin signs a law that calls for up to 15 years in prison for spreading false or defamatory information about the military.

Sept 30, 2023 – The International Criminal Court issues a war-crimes indictment for Putin, accusing him of the unlawful deportation and transportation of children from Ukraine’s war zone into Russia.

June 23, 2023 – Mercenary force leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who accused officials of denying ammunition and support to his fighters in Ukraine, mounts a rebellion in which his troops take control of Russia’s southern military headquarters and head for Moscow. The uprising ends the next day, but undermines Putin’s image of power. Prigozhin is killed exactly two months after the uprising in a mysterious plane crash.

Feb 16, 2024 – Navalny dies at an Arctic prison colony of unspecified causes. “There is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did,” said US President Joe Biden. More than 350 people were arrested paying tribute to Navalny at ad-hoc memorials and monuments to victims of political repression.

March 17, 2024 – Putin wins a fifth term in an election that reportedly gave him 87% of the vote. His victory had never been in doubt; the other three candidates on the ballot were low-profile politicians from token opposition parties that support the Kremlin’s line.

March 22, 2024 – Gunmen storm a concert hall on Moscow’s outskirts, killing people coming to hear a rock group and setting the building on fire. The attack, which killed 144 people, was claimed by an offshoot of the Islamic State group and Russia arrested 11 citizens of Tajikistan as suspects, but Putin and other officials claimed without presenting evidence that the attack was carried out under Ukraine’s direction.

May 7, 2024 – Putin begins a fifth term in office.

A view of the members of Russia’s State Duma Lower House of Parliament attending a plenary session in Moscow, on October 17, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Lower House of Russia’s Parliament on October 18 gave its final approval to a Bill revoking the ratification of a global nuclear test ban treaty, a move Moscow described as putting it on a par with the United States.

The State Duma lawmakers voted unanimously to revoke the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in the third and final reading on October 18. The Bill will now go to the upper house, the Federation Council, which will consider it next week. Federation Council lawmakers have already said they will support the Bill.

The legislation was introduced to Parliament following a statement from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned earlier this month that Moscow could revoke its 2000 decision to ratify the treaty to “mirror” the stand taken by the United States, which has signed but not ratified the nuclear test ban.

The treaty, adopted in 1996, bans all nuclear explosions anywhere in the world, although it has never fully entered into force. In addition to the U.S., it is yet to be ratified by China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Iran and Egypt.

There are widespread concerns that Russia could resume nuclear tests to try to discourage the West from offering military support to Ukraine. Many Russian hawks have spoken in favour of a resumption. Mr. Putin has said that while some experts have talked about the need to conduct nuclear tests, he hasn’t yet formed an opinion on the issue.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said last week that Moscow will continue to respect the ban and will only resume nuclear tests if Washington does so first.

U.S. President Joe Biden (left) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The “health of democracy” is an important issue for the India-U.S. relationship, said senior U.S. White House officials, adding that U.S. President Joe Biden raised these issues in every meeting he has held with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Briefing the media after the bilateral meeting on Friday night (September 8) between PM Modi and President Biden, the officials made a reference to the Karnataka State elections, calling Mr. Modi’s public congratulations to the Congress party for its victory in the State, which the ruling BJP lost in May, a “positive indicator” for democracy. 

They said India is “disappointed” that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not attend the G20 summit, said senior U.S. White House officials, adding that there was “clear appreciation” that U.S. President Joe Biden travelled to India for it.

On chances for a joint declaration being forged at the end of the G20 summit, the officials said there had been some forward movement, particularly on climate issues in the draft communique, but that the U.S. would remain “purposeful determined and resolute” on the language over Ukraine. As The Hindu had reported on September 8, officials and diplomats said the language on all non-geopolitical issues had been cleared, but Ukraine remains a sticking point with the U.S. and allies ranged on one side and Russia and China on the other. 

“There was a clear appreciation on the part of India that President Biden is here, and that he made the trip,” said Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council’s Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, adding that “I think it is a disappointment for India that both Russia and China (Presidents) are not here”. 

Highlighting the India-U.S.-Saudi Arabia-India infrastructure corridor which now includes the European Union, that is expected to be announced, Mr. Campbell said that talks are still ongoing with all the parties present in Delhi, and this would be a “major breakthrough that would help fundamental delays with respect to infrastructure and communications, from India with the Middle East (West Asia) and then on to Europe. 

Worldview with Suhasini Haidar | PM Modi in US | A major leap forward for India-US ties?

The officials also faced several questions from the U.S. White House Press Corps members on the lack of access for journalists in the press pool to the bilateral meeting and the main G20 venue. Mr. Campbell said that this had been raised with India, and stressed that despite India’s objections, the U.S. had held a press interaction with PM Modi and President Biden during the state visit in Washington in June. 

“I do want to just underscore for you that in every meeting that I’ve been in, the President is very clear about the importance of the health of democracy. He doesn’t do this in such a way that suggests that one country is lecturing to another but rather that we all face shared challenges, and we think it’s important that we’re constantly asking the hard questions about our democracy.” When pressed on whether U.S. concerns over India have led to any “change” in the Modi government, Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher, the NSC Senior Director for South Asia, pointing to recent Karnataka elections, said that Mr. Modi had congratulated the Congress party on the results, although she said the U.S. would not like to ascribe this to its influence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes U.S. President Joe Biden for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, Delhi, on September 9, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Dan Kitwood

The “health of democracy” is an important issue for the India-U.S. relationship, said senior U.S. White House officials, adding that U.S. President Joe Biden raised these issues in every meeting he has held with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Briefing the media after the bilateral meeting on Friday night (September 8) between PM Modi and President Biden, the officials made a reference to the Karnataka State elections, calling Mr. Modi’s public congratulations to the Congress party for its victory in the State, which the ruling BJP lost in May, a “positive indicator” for democracy. 

They said India is “disappointed” that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not attend the G20 summit, said senior U.S. White House officials, adding that there was “clear appreciation” that U.S. President Joe Biden travelled to India for it.

G-20 Summit 2023 in New Delhi Live Updates | September 9

On chances for a joint declaration being forged at the end of the G20 summit, the officials said there had been some forward movement, particularly on climate issues in the draft communique, but that the U.S. would remain “purposeful determined and resolute” on the language over Ukraine. As The Hindu had reported on September 8, officials and diplomats said the language on all non-geopolitical issues had been cleared, but Ukraine remains a sticking point with the U.S. and allies ranged on one side and Russia and China on the other. 

“There was a clear appreciation on the part of India that President Biden is here, and that he made the trip,” said Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council’s Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, adding that “I think it is a disappointment for India that both Russia and China (Presidents) are not here”. 

Highlighting the India-U.S.-Saudi Arabia-India infrastructure corridor which now includes the European Union, that is expected to be announced, Mr. Campbell said that talks are still ongoing with all the parties present in Delhi, and this would be a “major breakthrough that would help fundamental delays with respect to infrastructure and communications, from India with the Middle East (West Asia) and then on to Europe. 

Worldview with Suhasini Haidar | PM Modi in US | A major leap forward for India-US ties?

The officials also faced several questions from the U.S. White House Press Corps members on the lack of access for journalists in the press pool to the bilateral meeting and the main G20 venue. Mr. Campbell said that this had been raised with India, and stressed that despite India’s objections, the U.S. had held a press interaction with PM Modi and President Biden during the state visit in Washington in June. 

“I do want to just underscore for you that in every meeting that I’ve been in, the President is very clear about the importance of the health of democracy. He doesn’t do this in such a way that suggests that one country is lecturing to another but rather that we all face shared challenges, and we think it’s important that we’re constantly asking the hard questions about our democracy.” When pressed on whether U.S. concerns over India have led to any “change” in the Modi government, Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher, the NSC Senior Director for South Asia, pointing to recent Karnataka elections, said that Mr. Modi had congratulated the Congress party on the results, although she said the U.S. would not like to ascribe this to its influence.

Moscow:

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to make a video address at the upcoming G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend, the Kremlin said Thursday.

The meeting comes amid fraught relations between Moscow and the West over the conflict in Ukraine, which caused deep tensions at last year’s summit in Bali.

Asked whether Putin would make a separate video address, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “No, there are no plans.”

He said “all the work” would be led by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is leading Russia’s delegation.

Sergei Lavrov also represented Russia at August’s BRICS meeting in Johannesburg, following a row over whether South Africa would be forced to arrest President Putin under an International Criminal Court warrant.

In the end, Vladimir Putin made an address by video-link, in which he blamed the West for the conflict in Ukraine.

President Putin’s invitations to international summits has angered some Western nations, which have sought to cast him as a pariah over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

Deep disagreements over the conflict, the phasing out of fossil fuels and debt restructuring will likely hamper any agreements being made at the two-day meeting in New Delhi.

China’s Xi Jinping, president of the world’s second-largest economy, will also miss the meeting, at a time of tensions with the United States and India, with which it shares a disputed border.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)