Ukraine war briefing: Drone squad ‘destroys rare North Korean howitzer’
www.theguardian.com
Wed, 19 Feb 2025 03:38:06 +0200
Macron to hold another round of talks without US or Russia Trump buys Putins propaganda by saying Ukraine started war.
What we know on day 1,092A Ukrainian drone squad knocked out a North Korean selfpropelled howitzer in the Luhansk region, Ukraines military said on Tuesday.
The Khortytsia, or east, group of forces said it was the first time since the start of the fullscale invasion that a very rare North Korean M1978 Koksan howitzer had been hit by a Ukrainian drone.
As well as Moscow using North Korean troops in the war, South Korean intelligence and other sources have reported that Kim Jonguns regime is supplying the Koksan selfpropelled artillery guns.The French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced on Tuesday that he will host another meeting on Ukraine with several European and nonEuropean states, after an emergency meeting on Monday in Paris that brought together a small number of key European countries in response to the US and Russia holding talks in Saudi Arabia without Ukraine and Europe.Donald Trump had bought Putins propaganda, hook, line, and sinker when he suggested on Monday that Ukraine had started the war with Russia, said Sean Savett, who was national security council spokesperson under Joe Bidens presidency.
A reminder no one should need Putin started the war by invading Ukraine unprovoked and his forces have committed war crimes against the Ukrainian people, Savett said.
Russia is the party responsible for this war continuing.It came amid continued criticism of the Trump administration for holding peace talks without Ukraine or Europe, to which Trump responded Today I heard, Oh, we werent invited.
Well youve been there for three years, you should have ended it you should have never started it.
You could have made a deal.
Russia and the US said they would establish negotiating teams, and bring in European countries at some point.Trump said he would probably meet with Putin before the end of the month.
Saudi Arabias crown prince wanted Ukraine to take part in the talks in Riyadh but the US and Russia refused, the Bloomberg news agency has reported.
As those talks took place, Chinas foreign minister, Wang Yi, told the UN security council on Tuesday that China supports all efforts conducive to peace talks.
The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has set out four principles respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries observance of the UN Charter due regard for legitimate security concerns of all countries and supporting efforts towards a peaceful settlement.Russia said its air defences downed 21 Ukrainian drones in the space of an hour late on Tuesday most over the western Kursk region, and one over Crimea.
Russias claims could not be verified.The Danish PM, Mette Frederiksen, said her government would announce plans on Wednesday for a massive rearming of Denmarks military due to the threat posed by Russia.
We must upgrade massively to protect Denmark.
And we must rearm massively to avoid war, Frederiksen told parliament on Tuesday.
Danish public broadcaster DR said the government was expected to announce the creation of a 50bn kroner 6.7bn/US7bn fund for additional defence spending in 20252026.
It would bring Denmarks defence spending to 3 of GDP.
Denmark has been one of Ukraines strongest backers.
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