Russia’s Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has responded to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s remarks that the bloc’s members are discussing putting their nuclear arsenals on alert.
Peskov said: ‘This is nothing else but an escalation.
‘Whenever President Putin comments on the issue of nuclear arms, he does so, in response to questions from reporters, including foreign ones.
‘Also, the NATO chief’s statement runs counter to the declaration issued following last weekend’s conference on Ukraine in Switzerland.’
Stoltenberg said that NATO allies had started consultations on the need to put nuclear weapons on alert, including against the background of China’s plans to increase the number of its nuclear warheads.
Meanwhile, the European Union Council has again extended sanctions related to Crimea’s reunification with Russia that were first imposed in June 2014.
Sanctions have now been extended until June 23, 2025.
The EU sanctions against Crimea and its residents, introduced in June 2014, were the harshest restrictions against Russia at the time – they were a virtual transport and economic blockade of the peninsula.
They also imposed, for the first time, a ban on entry into the European Union of all residents of Crimea using Russian passports. Thus, emphasising that the EU does not recognise the transition of Crimea to Russian jurisdiction.
At the same time, the EU adopted an indefinite strategy of non-recognition of Crimea’s accession to Russia, to which all countries of the EU and candidate countries are obliged to adhere.
- Russian troops struck Ukrainian army units and military hardware in 110 areas between Sunday and Monday in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defence Ministry reported on Monday.
The Defence Ministry stated: ‘Operational/tactical aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groups of forces inflicted damage on massed enemy manpower and military equipment in 110 locations.
‘The Ukrainian army lost over 300 troops in battles with Russian forces in the Kharkov area.
‘Russia’s Battlegroup North units improved their forward edge positions and inflicted casualties on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 42nd mechanised, 57th motorised infantry, 71st infantry, 105th and 125th Territorial Defence brigades in areas near the settlements of Volchansk, Glubokoye, Sinelnikovo and Liptsy in the Kharkov Region.
‘They repelled a counterattack by an assault group of the 36th Marine Infantry Brigade.
‘The Ukrainian army’s losses in the Kharkov direction over the past 24 hours amounted to 300 personnel, four pickup trucks, a 152mm D-20 howitzer, a 122mm D-30 howitzer and a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher.
The ministry also stated that: ‘The Ukrainian army has lost roughly 405 troops in battles with Russian forces in the Kupyansk area over the past day.’
Russia’s Battlegroup West units ‘took more advantageous positions and inflicted casualties on formations of the Ukrainian army’s 14th, 43rd, 44th and 116th mechanised and 3rd assault brigades in areas near the settlements of Shiykovka, Sinkovka, Peski-Radkovskiye and Druzhelyubovka in the Kharkov Region and Nevskoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic.
‘The Ukrainian army’s losses in the Kupyansk direction over the past 24 hours amounted to 405 personnel, three armoured combat vehicles, seven motor vehicles, two 122mm Gvozdika motorised artillery systems and a Nota electronic warfare station.’
Russian forces improved their frontline positions in the Donetsk area where the Ukrainian army lost roughly 535 troops and two field ammunition depots on Sunday.
The ministry added: ‘Southern Battlegroup units improved their forward edge positions and inflicted casualties on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 93rd mechanised, 79th air assault and 46th airmobile brigades in areas near the settlements of Katerinovka, Aleksandro-Shultino and Gornyak in the Donetsk People’s Republic.
‘Russian forces improved their tactical position and inflicted casualties on four Ukrainian army brigades in the Avdeyevka area where the enemy lost roughly 335 troops over the past day, the ministry reported.
‘In counter-battery fire, Russian troops destroyed a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, a 152mm D-20 howitzer, a 152mm Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, a 152mm 2A65 Msta-B howitzer, two 122mm D-30 howitzers, a 100mm Rapira anti-tank gun and a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher.
Russia has also condemned the Ukrainian army for bombing a block of flats in Shebekino in which five people died.
The Russian Defence Ministry said that it was not in an area with Russian forces and therefore amounts to a war crime.
Responding to a question as to what would happen if Ukraine refuses Russian president Vladimir Putin’s peace proposal, Defence Director Sergey Naryshkin said: ‘The conditions on which peace can be achieved and some sort of a peace agreement may be signed will become more complex and tough for Ukraine.’
Earlier, Putin had presented new peace proposals on settling the Ukraine conflict, providing for the recognition of Crimea, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions as parts of Russia, the establishment of Ukraine’s non-aligned and non-nuclear status as well as its demilitarisation and denazification and the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions.
The Kiev regime has rejected this initiative.
- A statement from the Kremlin’s press office has confirmed that President Putin had been invited to pay an official visit to North Korea.
They said on Monday: ‘At the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a friendly state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on June 18-19, 2024.
‘It is planned to discuss the state and prospects for the further development of a comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Vietnam in the trade, economic, scientific, technological and humanitarian fields, as well as to exchange views on current issues on the international and regional agenda.’
A joint statement and a number of bilateral documents will be signed following the talks.
In September 2023, Kim Jong Un visited Russia and invited Putin to North Korea.
A series of high-level bilateral exchanges followed, including visits by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to North Korea in October and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui to Russia in January.
In January, Peskov said that Putin’s visit to North Korea would take place in the foreseeable future.
