MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin will later Monday host North Korea’s top diplomat in the Kremlin, the Russian president’s spokesman said, as the two sides deepen military and political ties amid the war in Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui earlier hailed the “spiritual closeness between Pyongyang and Moscow” in a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during her visit to the Russian capital.
Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last year inked a mutual defense pact, while Pyongyang despatched thousands of troops to help Moscow’s army fight off Ukrainian troops in the western Kursk region.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin would host Choe, but provided no details on what the pair would discuss.
The visit is the latest in a flurry of diplomatic exchanges between the two countries and comes just days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to advance military ties with Moscow.
Putin due to meet North Korean foreign minister in Moscow
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Putin due to meet North Korean foreign minister in Moscow
Australia hits Afghan Taliban officials with sanctions, travel bans
- The Taliban has said it respects women’s rights, in line with its interpretation of Islamic law and local custom
- The measures were part of a new Australian government framework that enabled it to “directly impose its own sanctions and travel bans to increase pressure on the Taliban, targeting the oppression of the Afghan people,” Wong said
SYDNEY: Australia on Saturday imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on four officials in Afghanistan’s Taliban government over what it said was a deteriorating human rights situation in the country, especially for women and girls.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the officials were involved “in the oppression of women and girls and in undermining good governance or the rule of law” in the Taliban-run country.
Australia was one of several nations which in August 2021 pulled troops out of Afghanistan, after being part of a NATO-led international force that trained Afghan security forces and fought the Taliban for two decades after Western-backed forces ousted the Islamist militants from power.
The Taliban, since regaining power in Afghanistan, has been criticized for deeply restricting the rights and freedoms of women and girls through bans on education and work.
The Taliban has said it respects women’s rights, in line with its interpretation of Islamic law and local custom.
Wong said in a statement the sanctions targeted three Taliban ministers and the group’s chief justice, accusing them of restricting access for girls and women “to education, employment, freedom of movement and the ability to participate in public life.”
The measures were part of a new Australian government framework that enabled it to “directly impose its own sanctions and travel bans to increase pressure on the Taliban, targeting the oppression of the Afghan people,” Wong said.
Australia took in thousands of evacuees, mostly women and children, from Afghanistan after the Taliban retook power in the war-shattered South Asian country, where much of the population now relies on humanitarian aid to survive.
