Russia’s Foreign Minister to Visit North Korea Oct. 18-19 

In this photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Beijing, China, on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Beijing, China, on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)
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Russia’s Foreign Minister to Visit North Korea Oct. 18-19 

In this photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Beijing, China, on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Beijing, China, on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will visit North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday this week, North Korea's state media KCNA and Russia's foreign ministry said on Monday.

Lavrov's visit comes a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare trip to Russia during which he and President Vladimir Putin discussed military cooperation, including over North Korea's satellite program and the war in Ukraine.

The growing diplomatic exchanges between the countries have fanned concerns that they could shore up Russia's military in Ukraine while North Korea obtains missile technology banned under UN resolutions.

Washington has accused Pyongyang of providing weapons to Moscow for its war in Ukraine, including through a recent shipment from an ammunition depot in North Korea, though both have denied any arms transactions.

Nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held talks in the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Monday and warned against any illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The envoys also pledged "stern responses" if the North launches a spy satellite this month as it had announced, after two failed attempts.

"They reaffirmed that there will be a clear price for North Korea's illegal actions that undermine peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the international community as a whole," the ministry said in a statement.



Cyprus Says US Decree on Security Affirms Island's Stabilizing Role in Region

Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images
Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images
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Cyprus Says US Decree on Security Affirms Island's Stabilizing Role in Region

Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images
Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images

Cyprus on Thursday hailed a US memorandum allowing military sales, including arms, to the island as a milestone affirming recognition of the island as a pillar of stability in the east Mediterranean region which has been fraught with conflict.
US President Joe Biden boosted security ties with Cyprus on Wednesday by issuing a memorandum that makes the island eligible to receive American defense articles, military sales and training.
Cyprus has over the years played a key role in evacuating people out of conflict zones and established a maritime corridor for aid to war-ravaged Gaza last year.
"This (memorandum) is a clear recognition of the Republic of Cyprus as a pillar of stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean, with the potential to further contribute to peace and the management of humanitarian challenges," the Cypriot presidency said in a statement.
Cyprus was close to Russia for decades, but there has been a marked shift in allegiances in recent years, Reuters said.
For many in Cyprus, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has drawn parallels to Türkiye’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974, and Cyprus, an EU member state, has followed its peers in adopting sanctions on Moscow. It is now getting FBI expertise in countering illicit finance.
Access to the US programs would enable greater interoperability to respond to regional humanitarian crises, counter malign influence, and combat terrorism and transnational organized crime, the US embassy in Nicosia said.
Deepening US-Cyprus relations are closely followed by Türkiye, which in September criticized the signing of a roadmap to boost defense co-operation between the United States and Cyprus.
Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion following a brief Greek-inspired coup in 1974, following years of sporadic violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots which triggered the collapse of a power-sharing administration in 1963.